WE REFER to the letter, 'Trains ought to stick strictly to timetable', by Ms Phua Ren Feng (my paper, Nov 4).

We have been in touch with Ms Phua and understand that she takes the northbound train from Yishun MRT station at about 8.40am each morning.

The train frequency between 8.30am and 9am at Yishun MRT station ranges from four to six minutes, as this time is considered as being after the morning peak hour, which explains Ms Phua's five-minute wait.

Our train schedule is planned according to demand, and there are usually fewer than 500 passengers riding the train over this stretch during this period.

Ms Phua also suggested having a timetable which the public could refer to.

There are no plans to display a timetable because of our high train frequency, especially during peak periods, where waiting times can be as short as two minutes.

Members of the public could always refer to the train-arrival information shown on the rail-travel information system located at each platform.

We would also like to highlight that SMRT has consistently surpassed the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) standards in adhering to our scheduled train arrivals.

In FY09, our trains arrived within two minutes of schedule 97.7 per cent of the time, which exceeded LTA's standard of 94 per cent.

As for Ms Phua's comment about the inaccurate display of train-arrival times, we have shared with her that we were unable to investigate the matter further without details.

Ms Bernadette Low
Manager
Corporate Marketing and Communications
SMRT Corporation

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