Trouble on the Tracks

It was Monday. Basketball training was just over. I stood over the overhead bridge looking out onto the distant expressway, looking out for my bus. Depending on which bus came first, I would take it.

I saw a double deckered bus approaching. That looked like 196. I made a run for it. I reached the staircase and judged the distance of the bus once again. Hang on...that wasn't 196, it was 198! I turned around and ran in the opposite direction to where I came from and went down the stairs to the other bus stop. I made it.

It wasn't long before I reached the MRT station. I walked briskly towards the entrance. It seemed that crowds have gathered at the barrier. I went through it, and a tall man announced to another man, "The East-West Line has been delayed."

I went up the escalator and was met with more crowds of people. There were on average 4 people every square metre. With my schoolbag, I had little space for moving around. I peeked through the bodies of annoyed commuters and saw an MRT train with closed doors, rolling along the tracks as fast as a 3 year old walked, stopping every few seconds. The do-not-board sign was on the television, and the platform became more crammed by the seconds. At first, I considered going to take the bus home, which would take considerably longer, but in this condition, the contrary. However, I wondered if I could exit the barrier at the same station I have entered, and another worry I had is that what if the train came just after I left the station? So I decided to wait.

5 minutes later, the train finally rolled out of the station and after another 1 minute, a next train rolled in just as slowly and after some impatient waiting, the doors finally opened. People rushed into the doors. I tried to step slowly avoiding any pushing a shoves, but as I neared the doors, a violent forward thrust squished me against the doors. It was only with the help of a group of kind Indian adults I managed to get safely into the train.

The train was as packed as the rice they serve for meals on planes. At least 6 people surrounded me, and an overall pressure of at least 10 Pascals was applied on me. I was locked in an awkward position with my hand twisting to grab the handle by a three passengers because they had no choice for they were also being locked by others.

The train moved at 20 km/h. A usual 1 minute trip to commonwealth took 5. As it moved, I wondered if I could survive this up to the 21st stop. However, the train stopped at commonwealth and was in a standstill for another 5 minutes. I could take it no longer and alighted the train.

I rushed down to the bus stop, hoping I would not miss the 196-it does not come very often and it was very late, 7:20pm to be exact. I thought about whether I was in the correct direction as I strode down the stairs just in case though I knew I was. I reached the bus stop, and finished thinking also. My thinking proved me wrong. I was in the wrong direction so I climbed back up the stairs and jogged to the bus stop on the other side. This shows that intuition is not always correct thought it seems so at times.

I bought a drink and 196 soon came. It was a 1 hour 15 minute trip to bedok. I looked at the MRT train up in the station. It was still not moving until I boarded the bus.

I watched television and the scenery on the bus and my father fetched me from bedok. At bedok, trains were coming every minute most probably due to the accumulation of trains along the line. It was 9:30pm when I reached home. A 3 hour journey.

A single train breakdown. Affecting the entire 45.4 km line. I have experience a similar incident of an obstruction on the tracks at tampines-A shuttle service to tanah merah was thus given. If Singapore was so environmentally friendly that most people took public transport, the situation would have been a lot worse. Stations would have been more crowded and more people affected. Government keeps on encouraging people to take public transport, but wheres the needed improvement. Of course, it is good with expansion of lines, but at the same time, "capillary" tracks should also be built in case of any accident along lines, not just a two way line. And I am not talking about MRT depots and interchanges a dozen kilometres away. How would that help letting other trains overtaking the failed one?

Singapore's railway system sure has a lot of room for improvement.