Thursday, April 10, 2008

Joke of the year nomination

SMRT bags top global awardWednesday • April 9, 2008

SINGAPOREANS may sometimes grumble about their train rides, but transport operator SMRT has been rated as one of the best in the world.

The transport service provider clinched the "Best Passenger Experience" award at the inaugural Metro Awards in Denmark earlier this month, beating out finalists such as Copenhagen Metro, Hong Kong's MTR and The Warsaw Metro.

They were judged on factors such as value for money, efficiency and reliability track record; additional facilities on stations and trains; ease of use; loyalty discounts; cleanliness and security; as well as their ability to deal with overcrowding.

SMRT was also a finalist in the "Best Metro" and "Best Metro Asia Pacific" categories.The awards were given out during an annual conference of the urban rail industry worldwide, which drew more than 400 delegates.

Said Metro Award director Mr Matthew Wallhead: "The judges were impressed at the great lengths that SMRT went to ensure that their train services are customer-friendly."

He added: "SMRT tipped the scores for almost all the criteria."

SMRT's latest accolade echoes the first nation-wide index on customer satisfaction released on Monday, where the transport provider scored 69.9, above the national score of 68.7. And, last month, it won the 'Most Customer-Friendly Transport' at the Land Transport Excellence Awards.

Just last week, the train operator lost its appeal against a $387,176 fine imposed for a seven-hour delay on Jan 21 that had affected some 57,000 commuters.

While the operator had highlighted the mitigating actions it had taken — such as free bus bridging services — the Land Transport Authority said these actions had already been considered in deciding on the penalty.



Yesterday it was reported that SMRT bags some top award for “Best Customer Experience”.

I shall nominate this for the joke of the year competition.

I would say 9/10 time when I take the trains these days, they are crowded, has long waiting time, quite often dirty and run down especially for the 1st generation train. So one will wonder how did dear SMRT won the award anyway?

Check out this statement:

“They were judged on factors such as value for money, efficiency and reliability track record; additional facilities on stations and trains; ease of use; loyalty discounts; cleanliness and security; as well as their ability to deal with overcrowding.”


1. Value for money? Remember it was making record profit from the citizen people!


2. Efficiency? How often you wait more the 8min for train during peak hour? And when the train finally came it was so full you have to wait for the next and even the next next one.


3. Reliability track record? I shall say nothing about countless train disruptions and the lousy way the handled it.


4. Additional facilites on stations and trains? Huh?


5. Loyalty discounts? Huh? Huh?


6. Cleanliness and security? Shall check out the condition of the trains these days and what security? Hiring a few man in vest checking you bags and having some jokers in red beret patrolling key stations in town clearly showed you it is for show only.


7.Ability to deal with overcrowding? Easy, just raise fair.

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