SMRT did not win big in Metro Awards 2008

Open the papers and I saw SMRT winning some Metro Award. One big advertisement. For one moment, I thought something went wrong. HK is definitely many times better than SMRT. Did a quick search and it revealed something else.

SMRT only won the Best Passenger Experience award, which is just one of the many awards given in Metro Awards 2008. The best metro award went to Copenhagen Metro, and the best metro asia pacific went to MTR Corporation Limited (Hong Kong). Copenhagen Metro also won the best Europe Metro. These are the awards that are important.

I do not know about Copenhagen but I do know Hong Kong MTR is good. I believe SMRT will now know how far behind they are in their so-called "first class" transport system. It really amazes me why they did not go Hong Kong to see what others are doing.

Anyway, it seems like SMRT finally decided to do something about it. This came about after they won the so-called award:

• Lunchtime wait at the central city stations like Raffles Place, Bugis, and Orchard will be cut from 7minutes to 3.5minutes
• Waiting times just before and after morning and evening peak hours will be cut to under 5minutes
• Screens will be installed in the train to give passengers better information about their ride, similar to those found on the MTR (finally. Took them long enough)

Anyway, now is all talk. Action speaks louder... For those who are interested in the list of winners, click here.