Sunday, October 8, 2017

We need a change in management

There has been much said about our Mass Rapid Transit System or the SMRT ; while the goal and tagline had been to make our system "world class" the sad reality is that it is far from that. Breakdowns and trains slowing or delayed for all manner of reasons has made our SMRT a much joked about service. Enough is enough. 

The frustration by the consumers are very fair, why pay decent money to get new and top quality trains only to have frequent breakdowns barely several years after the lines are fully operational ranging from signalling systems,trackside misalignment to water seepage (most recently).  The company is paying top dollar (over US$ 1.2 M) for top executives to manage a relatively new system but the screw-ups come fast and furious. The management while able to pinpoint the faults and enable alternative transportation quite efficiently still is unable to mitigate the regular incidences of failures and train delays.   

The root cause is the hiring of inexperienced people - at top dollar - to run the system. Much has been said by the people and their unhappiness is very clear whenever their are breakdowns and delays for a myriad of reasons. To expect or say this is 'normal' due to our aging system is nothing short of ridiculous. 

With this kind of pay, our SMRT can easily find top executives from anywhere in the world to clean house, ensure a smooth and reliable train system.

What kind of system do we have ?  Nothing to match the efficiency of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Shanghai.

Its time to take stock and make some decisions.     

30 April update - the SMRT CEO has decided to step down ; 

No comments: