Tanah Merah interchange sucks

[Brah]

With many things here quite efficient, like the way IRAS and MoM have administrative services web-based and automated, it's surprising how bad the train service is to the Changi Business area.

You have to change trains, wait sometimes 10 minutes just to go one stop in either direction. This adds cumulatively a lot on to one's commute, and seems like extraordinarily poor planning.

This affects a significant amount of people every day.

[Wd40]

Been there, done that. Somehow that area is neglected. May be because locals are not complaining of hardship, as the CBP employs mostly expats and Indians. Its only recently that they started a bus service 20 from Tampines to CBP. Before that the closest bus stop was about 15 mins walk from the changi point mall.

This was my biggest justification for riding a motorcycle.

[zzm9980]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

[bgd]

Give it a year or two and the Downtown line will extend to Expo. That might help depending where you travel from.

[rajagainstthemachine]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.
I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

[zzm9980]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.

Yes, on that one rainy miserable morning we had some tourists with giant suitcases step into the train and STOP next to the door. I pushed, hard.

I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

They'd need more tracks, so yeah kinda hard. Maybe with the future East Coast line they can do it. Make the train slightly nicer and charge S$30 round trip, ala HK Airport Express. Stops are Suntec, Marina Bay, and Orchard?

[rajagainstthemachine]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.

Yes, on that one rainy miserable morning we had some tourists with giant suitcases step into the train and STOP next to the door. I pushed, hard.

I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

They'd need more tracks, so yeah kinda hard. Maybe with the future East Coast line they can do it. Make the train slightly nicer and charge S$30 round trip, ala HK Airport Express. Stops are Suntec, Marina Bay, and Orchard?

its actually doable with no alteration to the existing infrastructure.
send in designated trains from Airport to City hall but at tanah merah redirect that train to tracks which lead to the city and program it to stop at city hall, so its like multiplexing airport trains with regular trains on the same track.

[Barnsley]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.
I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

Did the MRT originally run from Changi Airport to the City, with Pasir Ris being the extension?

[zzm9980]

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.

Yes, on that one rainy miserable morning we had some tourists with giant suitcases step into the train and STOP next to the door. I pushed, hard.

I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

They'd need more tracks, so yeah kinda hard. Maybe with the future East Coast line they can do it. Make the train slightly nicer and charge S$30 round trip, ala HK Airport Express. Stops are Suntec, Marina Bay, and Orchard?

its actually doable with no alteration to the existing infrastructure.
send in designated trains from Airport to City hall but at tanah merah redirect that train to tracks which lead to the city and program it to stop at city hall, so its like multiplexing airport trains with regular trains on the same track.

Systems like that are pretty stupid, since you don't really get an express benefit. They do that here in California on 'Caltrain'. If you're on the "local" train that leaves 5 minutes earlier you still get there faster than the express train. You either spend less time sitting on a train, or standing on a platform. You also need to have big gaps to give the prior local train time to make room for the express train. Might as well just run more trains.

[zzm9980]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.
I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

Did the MRT originally run from Changi Airport to the City, with Pasir Ris being the extension?

Looks like it was built out in smaller steps than that, but essentially yes:

5 November 1988: Three stations on East West Line from Jurong East to Lakeside were opened.
20 December 1988: Two stations on North South Line from Khatib to Yishun were opened, completing the Northern section of the line.
4 November 1989: Marina Bay, the last station on the North South Line, was opened. Also opened were nine stations on the East West Line from Bugis to Tanah Merah. Hence forth, the system started to run as a two-line system, with the 2-level interchanges coming into full operation at City Hall and Raffles Place.
16 December 1989: Three stations on East West Line from Simei to Pasir Ris were opened, completing the Eastern section of the line.
10 March 1990: Three stations on a Branch Line starting from Jurong East to Choa Chu Kang were opened.
On 6 July 1990, the last station on the East West Line, Boon Lay, was opened, which marked the completion of the system two years ahead of schedule.

Changi Airport was opened on 8 February 2002, giving the airport its first rail link after less than 21 years of operations. Initially through services were operated from the airport to Boon Lay at the other end of the East West line, however due to ridership falling below expectations the service was reverted to shuttle mode in 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of ... ne_network

[nakatago]

Try going the other direction on a morning with rain. That station is a sardine can.

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.

Yes, on that one rainy miserable morning we had some tourists with giant suitcases step into the train and STOP next to the door. I pushed, hard.

I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

They'd need more tracks, so yeah kinda hard. Maybe with the future East Coast line they can do it. Make the train slightly nicer and charge S$30 round trip, ala HK Airport Express. Stops are Suntec, Marina Bay, and Orchard?

Too bad they can't do it how they do it Tokyo; multiple platforms/tracks that can let trains overtake other trains.

[zzm9980]

add to that backpackers/tourists who can't afford a taxi lugging their suitcases around, frantically scrambling from one side of the platform to another, it can be a very frustrating experience.
And for all those visiting Singapore for the first time, its a nice way to welcome them.

Yes, on that one rainy miserable morning we had some tourists with giant suitcases step into the train and STOP next to the door. I pushed, hard.

I wonder if it is really hard to have a non stop train service from the Airport to say City hall and charge Passengers from the Aiport say 10$ ?

They'd need more tracks, so yeah kinda hard. Maybe with the future East Coast line they can do it. Make the train slightly nicer and charge S$30 round trip, ala HK Airport Express. Stops are Suntec, Marina Bay, and Orchard?

Too bad they can't do it how they do it Tokyo; multiple platforms that can let trains overtake other trains.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking with multiple tracks. HK's Airport Express shares the same general rail paths as one of their MTR lines too.

[Wd40]

Having the interchange at Tanah Merah was a blunder. They should have made Expo the interchange. There is no reason for people from Pasir Ris, Tampines and Simei to go all the way to Tanah merah and change, inorder to go to Expo. Also no reason for people coming from the airport and wanting to go to Pasir Ris to go until Tanah Merah.

But with the Downtown line, they are doing the right thing. They are connecting Tampines directly with Expo.

[tonM]

Some improvements to be done in the near future

[rajagainstthemachine]

you should see the chinatown interchange, its another badly designed architectural wonder, now that they've added the downtown line, There isn't enough space to change from the NE line to the downtown line, I took it the other day to get to Telok Ayer and it was a confusing mess.