One of the most dreadful error messages for any first level IT support person to see may perhaps be: “unknown error”. It usually comes with almost no other information to allow them to start looking for solutions or to identify the fault. That might as well be what the technical chaps at SMRT are feeling right now.

Since I don’t work for the SMRT nor have any knowledge in operating a mass transit system, I couldn’t really say what the “fault” is. But as any keyboard warrior do I am free to make speculations about what I think could be “wrong” with it. First of all, the system was planned in the 70s and it went into operation by the mid- or late- 80s. It was planned for a population of 4 million at a point of time where our population is slightly above 3 million. The population today is 5.5 million which means proportionately, the MRT system is about 35% over-capacity. It would have been better if there wasn’t the effort to remove bus services which could have complemented the service. Heavier and over-loaded trains simply requires more power to move up to speed, not to mention an increase in wear and and tear of components – e.g. rails, and carriage wheels.

Next, replacement trains are heavier than their predecessors. Which means it also requires more power to move them. And finally, to increase the frequency, more trains are put into service with an upgraded signal system. That also means the system now draws more power than before. So, for a keyboard warrior like me, it was of no surprise that the power system “failed” and “crashed” the MRT system on July 7th with an “unknown error”.

But of course all of these are just my personal speculation, and I take it that the power utilisation requirements have been thought about way before the plan to replace the old trains and to increase frequency were put into place. If not, then someone really have to commit hara-kiri as this is definitely NOT acceptable! And whoever responsible can use the Padang for this public spectacle. We can all crowd-source for the money to pay for a top-grade wakizashi, even a $11,000 one.

Speculation aside, if the well-paid elites are going to expect some of us lesser mortals to live with this, then they should start looking at dealing with some of the issues that happened during a train breakdown regardless of a major one like the July 7th shutdown, or one of those disruptions between several stations. The reason being, there would be far less frustration (if not anger) when there are quick, and preferably equally cheap, alternatives to continue on our trips when such crap hits the fan.

For starters, bridging services only looks good on paper. But there is a lead time before the bridging service is brought into place to start serving affected commuters. Even when in place, it is not as efficient as the MRT itself because it is subjected to weather and traffic conditions. It is also a real waste of resources to standby buses as a contingency for a disruption. Those buses may be barely adequate for a localised breakdown at a particular section, but are there enough buses to service the entire line in the case of a major shutdown like the one on July 7th? Try and imagine if the big water pipe between Singapore and Johor had burst, and then we try to keep up with the water supply by running water trucks.

Next, the bus system is going to be overwhelmed. Everyone who has experienced a train disruption knows just how bad it will be because the buses running more or less parallel to the MRT tracks will be packed, and in some cases none of those may even be heading to the destination! On July 7th, every bus is so packed people has to step out into the bus bays to force buses to stop so they can board. I was told that even Orchard Road and Scotts Road were closed to traffic as a result of the bus congestions. Can we imagine if this had happened in the beginning of the day where a large part of the workforce cannot turn up for work in time? Or that this happened when we need to mobilise our NSmen to prepare for war?

We simply cannot have a public transport system where everything leads to the MRT. A friend who stayed near Sembawang had considered taking the Circle Line to Bishan but dropped the idea because there are no connecting buses from there to his area. The buses which are available are either at Novena Station, or further up at Yishun Station. Now tell me about that “an MRT Station too far” feeling. In fact, when the East-West Line came back online, it doesn’t help this friend at all either because even taking the train to Jurong East is meaningless as a quick check showed us that it takes a ridiculous 3 (three) different buses before my friend gets anywhere near home. Something has to be done to put the complementary bus services back, regardless of the profitability of the transport operators. If SMRT and SBS-Transit believe those routes to be unprofitable, then open them to private operators and allow those operators to charge a reasonable price on the routes.

Lastly, taxis. When the bus system is overwhelmed even the taxi system does not escape unscathed. The booking app gets timed out and SMS booking goes without response. It is not surprising since I often noticed that the cell signals hardly even stay stable at H+, much less 4G even when not overwhelmed. When large concentration of users suddenly utilised the local telco’s less than optimal data networks around certain locations, we will experience all the “first world problems” at one go, which only adds to our anger and frustration because we don’t even have a pressure valve to release our anger on social media. (I don’t even want to talk about apps utilising services like Uber, since one chap complained about his $124 fare after using it.)

Calling the taxi operator’s call center is even worse, as a caller is put on hold for long periods before an operator even gets to him. And after that, the caller may actually even get a “no cab is available” response, which means he has to go through the same process again.

Really, things are not pretty for us lesser mortals on the ground level. If the elite expects us to swallow this bitter pill of semi-regular breakdowns, then it is high time they consider giving us something soothing to go down with it. It is useless for both Minister Lui and the Prime Minister to be just “extremely concerned”. Because as long as the efficiency of the other components of public transport are not taken care of then they will constantly be facing howls of demand for hara-kiri. Or would they only wake up when things to come to a head where the pitchforks come knocking in the polling box?