The BIG Breakdown or Meltdown

[verykiasu2010]

daisyt:

Sorry, pardon my ignorance. I still cannot understand why public transport becomes a business n to generate good profit? Them why call PUBLIC transport?


According to ST report, rail claw dislodge. Why does this happen? Not stated. How often they did maintenance and routine check? Why was this not spoted?

sorry, is an honest mistake, let's move on



ooooops, can't move on, the train got no power, spare batter / back up UPS also no maintenance ...

[3Boys]

So, before we throw the baby out with the bathwater, do we know if not-for-profit mass transit systems are better run than for-profit transit systems?


Putting on my flame-retardant jacket now..... :siam:

[wapobs]

verykiasu2010:

...

sorry, is an honest mistake, let's move on

ooooops, can't move on, the train got no power, spare batter / back up UPS also no maintenance ...

orhh yah, tio liao la.
so many peeple cowpehcowboo wat har?
maintain this tat, maintain simi la? spare battery/UPS no working?
salary and bonus big big can oredy, tio bo?

[Chenonceau]

3Boys:

So, before we throw the baby out with the bathwater, do we know if not-for-profit mass transit systems are better run than for-profit transit systems?


Putting on my flame-retardant jacket now..... :siam:

How about Singapore's own SBS Transit BEFORE privatisation? We had a reputation back then for having a comprehensive and efficient public transport system.

I was their consultant for over a year and I saw how things changed AFTER privatisation. Maintenance budget shrank. Training budget shrank. Bed bugs began to appear in buses, and repairs were left so late that newspapers highlighted them. And now, bus drivers lose their way!! Meanwhile, CEOs report PROFITS and take home FAT paychecks eh?

Maybe SBS Transit was not PROFIT-efficient, but it sure was efficient in how it moved Singaporeans from home to work, and it sure did help build our reputation as an efficient country.

3boys, I have regard for you and it pains me that we now disagree. I hope you don't mind. It's just an opinion. We can agree to disagree.

[3Boys]

Chenonceau:

I was their consultant for over a year and I saw how things changed AFTER privatisation. Maintenance budget shrank. Training budget shrank. Bed bugs began to appear in buses, and repairs were left so late that newspapers highlighted them. And now, bus drivers lose their way!! Meanwhile, CEOs report PROFITS and take home FAT paychecks eh?

Maybe SBS Transit was not PROFIT-efficient, but it sure was efficient in how it moved Singaporeans from home to work, and it sure did help build our reputation as an efficient country.

3boys, I have regard for you and it pains me that we now disagree. I hope you don't mind. It's just an opinion. We can agree to disagree.

Don't worry my dear, I never take these things personally and you are at liberty to blast me all you wish, and I still have the highest regard for your thoughtful writing.

Although I must say it seems that it is your position have shifted rather than mine on this issue (which is now the stodgy and very unfashionable line of profit-motive for sustainability of services).

I understand your point, and it is well taken.

[Way2GO]

verykiasu2010:

daisyt:

Sorry, pardon my ignorance. I still cannot understand why public transport becomes a business n to generate good profit? Them why call PUBLIC transport?


According to ST report, rail claw dislodge. Why does this happen? Not stated. How often they did maintenance and routine check? Why was this not spoted?

sorry, is an honest mistake, let's move on



ooooops, can't move on, the train got no power, spare batter / back up UPS also no maintenance ...

Dis is a good question. Where is the backup power and emergency evacuation procedures during major breakdowns?

daisyt, it was previously mentioned that SMRT does regular checks and operates a service train off operating hours to check n maintain d lines.
I now wonder the regularity n quality of the checks when they fail to spot these 61 rail defects and 13 faulty trains earlier as reported here:
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC111219-0000048/Necessary-pain-for-commuters

[Way2GO]

When SMRT is not responsible for the train infrastructure,

and the focus is on growing profits for stakeholders,
maintenance of trains/facilities n service to commuters could hv been compromised.
The CEO’s remarks in the aftermath of recent breakdowns r quite telling of the corporate focus of SMRT.
To flash ‘income opportunity’ for SMRT taxis on a public bulletin board when commuters r stranded in the trains – how more insensitive n opportunistic can one stoop to?

Public transport, water n power supplies are essential services that shd never hv corporations running them mainly for generating ever greater profits for their stakeholders at the expense of d general public. Temasek is a majority stakeholder in SMRT, Singpower and Hyflux(?).

[verykiasu2010]

"privatisation" without competition in the market is not privatisation


profit maximisiation without keeping to maintenance standards is management failure

just like an airline / airplane, compromise in safety checks and maintenance will end up paying a high cost one day, sooner or later

obviously the SMRT’s "daily check" on the track / rail is simply going through the motion without thinking, looking at the thing with eyes shut. As Minister $$ said, such items’ wear and tear don’t happen over night. And as reported, there was no check on the slab in the last 10 years !!! If they could discover in one night so much damages, how come they did not discover them in the daily check every night for the past how many years/months?

Those claws and power line cover damages don’t happen over night

Since it was possible to go into their depot to deface the train, anything is possible

It is absolute management failure

[Way2GO]

Chenonceau:

It's easy to make Saw the scapegoat. She is only doing what she needs to do to turn in a PROFIT. Her remuneration is not computed against citizen satisfaction. It is computed against PROFITS. This stimulates many decisions and behaviors to MAXIMISE PROFITS.


The real issue is that transport SHOULD NOT BE profit-making. It should be a cost-recovery model.

I think u hit d nail on d head with ur 1st para.
When SMRT took on a CEO who was in d retail business dealing in luxury goods but with zilch experience in a public transport, u can imagine where d focus shifted.

[Way2GO]

verykiasu2010:

\"privatisation\" without competition in the market is not privatisation

Got mah. who say don't hv. It's a duopoly with another GLC company operating d newer lines leh.
Didn't notice after Comfort hike taxi fares, SMRT n TIBS follow suit?
Of course hv competition lah. Don't anyhow say got no competition!