Reader Respond Draft 2

In the article “Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system”, Lee Min Kok (2015) point out that Hong Kong’s MTR is the World’s most profitable system Corporation. Lee also commented that Singapore’s SMRT and SBS should use MTR as a reference point for railway operations. While MTR has a total of 155 stations that stretches over a distance of 221km, passengers rarely experience delay even during peak hours due to high train frequency. Lee mentions that a small percentage of passengers in Hong Kong (0.1%) encounter delay compared to Singapore (4%). Investments of over HK$6 billion have been made on high maintenance and service improvements which kept the system operating efficiently together. The preserving, restoration and service enhancement on train system takes up about a third of MTRC's funds. Lastly, the system is being controlled by an Operation Control Centre to prevent any shortcomings and reacting to downtime efficiently with the use of the black “incident box”.

Based on the points elaborated, I agree that Hong Kong’s MTR is a good benchmark for railway operation for many countries to follow but it is not a suitable benchmark for Singapore as factors such as size of population and maintenance expenses has to be taken into account.

It is true to say that by having more passenger taking railway services will increase profits for the organisation. In the article “How successful is Hong Kong’s MTR compared to S’pore’s MRT? Unbelievable. Out of this world”, Lay (2016) mentions that more than 5 million passengers in Hong Kong use MTR daily compared to Singapore’s SMRT with only 152,000 passengers per day. In addition, Lay also did a comparison of farebox recovery ratio between both countries where Hong Kong has a higher percentage of 187% between January and June 2015 (world highest). Since Hong Kong has a bigger population size compared to Singapore, I feel that it’s very difficult for Singapore’s railway operation to achieve a similar farebox recovery ratio as Hong Kong’s MTR. In another article, “Bus and train ridership hits new high”, Tan (2016) talked about how third party apps such as Uber and Grab has affect railway transport in Singapore where people are hailing for cabs reducing the number of passengers. With this being mention, it shows that the amount of passengers taking train services has reduce due to this problem making it unreliable to use MTR as a benchmark for Singapore’s railway operation.

When more money is invested into maintenance the rate of breakdown or faults is lowered.

Based on the same article, Lay stated: “Over S$1.08 billion (HK$6 billion), or 37 percent, of MTRC’s revenue in 2014 was spent on maintenance, renewals and service improvement on the rail network. In the 2015 financial year, SMRT spent S$121.9 million, or 19 percent of its rail revenue, on maintenance and repair, although this amount excludes maintenance spending by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore.” Through this statement, it is clear that SMRT has under invested in its rail maintenance compared to MTR and the huge difference of revenue spent on maintenance. Since MTR has different methods of maintenance and budget it is unsuitable for SMRT to follow. In the article “Rail maintenance expenses to account for half of rail revenue: SMRT” Teng (2015) mention that by the year 2016 maintenance cost are likely to increase to 50 percent of its revenue due to growth expansion, upgrading activities and recent revision of fares that would take effect” With this being said, there might be changes in maintenance cost in the near future with the new expansion and upgrading.

In conclusion, I do agree that Hong Kong’s MTR is a very reliable referencing point for countries who shared similar quantities. I strongly feel that Singapore’s SMRT should use their own methods and ways to improve its railway operations.

References:

Kok, L. M. (2016, January 19). Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/dubbed-the-best-in-class-6-things-about-hong-kongs-mtr-rail-system#xtor=CS1-10

Lay, B (2016, May 19). How successful is Hong Kong’s MTR compared to S’pore’s MRT? Unbelievable. Out of this world. Retrieved from https://mothership.sg/2016/05/how-successful-is-hong-kongs-mtr-compared-to-spores-mrt-unbelievable-out-of-this-world/

Tan, C (2016, March 10). Bus and train ridership hits new high. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/bus-and-train-ridership-hits-new-high

Teng, A (2015, October 28). Rail maintenance expenses to account for half of rail revenue: SMRT. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/rail-maintenance-expenses-account-half-rail-revenue-smrt?singlepage=true