Chartered services unlikely to have no impact on regular train runs

As a daily MRT commuter who has been exasperated by numerous train delays and disruptions, I was not impressed by SMRT's decision to allow its trains to be used for private purposes, especially for something as trivial as a school rugby match ("SMRT faces sanctions for allowing private use of trains"; yesterday).

The chartered services apparently ran from 1pm to 4pm (the start of the match), which covers the lunchtime peak period.

Also, the trains ran along the same track used by normal services.

Hence, it would be unrealistic to expect private charters not to have an impact on regular train schedules.

On another note, the chartered train services did not seem fair to St Andrew's Secondary, the opponents of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in the rugby final.

Chan Yeow Chuan

This article was published on Aug 28 in The Straits Times.

Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.