'Can't you use GPS?': A train delay, a bus ride gone south and a day to remember
With the North-South Line hit by massive delays during morning rush hour on Friday (Aug 18), Channel NewsAsia's Justin Ong takes a SMRT bus shuttle towards town - and finds himself on an adventure of sorts.
Channel NewsAsia's Justin Ong finds out what it's like on a free bus service when there is a train delay.
SINGAPORE: Bishan MRT station was a picture of chaos on Friday morning (Aug 18). Meandering lines at the taxi stand, warm bodies amassed at the bus stop, the air thick with frustration as irate passengers vented at SMRT staff on the ground and each other.
Small wonder. They were facing yet another breakdown in train services - this time, the North-South Line (NSL) that was dogged by signalling faults which started around 6.30am and took about three hours to resolve.
At the height of the service disruption, Bishan MRT station was overflowing with a sea of passengers who had tapped out - some after withstanding an hour-long ride from Ang Mo Kio, just one stop away - and others newly arrived and apprised of the situation.
With cabs never there when you need them, and Grab and Uber prices soaring, SMRT's free shuttle bus rides - traversing stations along the NSL - were the next best option.
So at 8.30am, I joined the queue for one - only to find out minutes later, in the absence of any signage, that it was for a private company bus.
The ensuing confusion saw SMRT staff receive an earful from a particularly annoyed woman. But she vanished once the correct shuttle buses pulled up - three standard SMRT buses at once, each bursting at the seams.
The neat line crumbled into a free-for-all, and I had barely squeezed in via the back door when it became apparent that the driver did not know the way.
After a missed turn to Braddell MRT station, one passenger stepped up and started giving him directions. "Can't you use GPS or something?" another muttered.
I made my way to the front to speak to the driver, who usually works the Sembawang, Admiralty and Woodlands area, but was called upon to help out this morning.
"I've been driving for 22 years, this is my first time activated for something like this," said the man in his 50s, who asked not to be identified. "The problem is I'm unfamiliar with the Bishan, Toa Payoh areas. I told HQ this, but they said 'Never mind, the control room will guide you over radio.'"
That never happened. The first few times I heard a voice crackle over the driver's comms, a representative from the headquarters simply reminded him that the final stop would be Newton MRT station.
Until I heard this: "Can you slow down so the shuttles behind can catch up? They don't know the way too."
Neither did our driver; he was still following instructions from the passenger, who eventually got off at Novena. It was left to me to direct the driver towards Newton - after all, it was just one more stop, right?
Not really. This was what was communicated next: "Hey sorry, can you go all the way to Marina South Pier? You know how right? Call back when you get there."
Being somewhat familiar with the rest of the route, I cautiously agreed to become a human GPS.
As we approached Far East Plaza, a passenger pressed the alighting bell - but our driver rightfully ignored it. The passenger then started bashing the bell furiously and shouting from the back. "Why aren't you stopping?"
I went over and told him this was a shuttle with specific instructions to stop at MRT stations only.
"Why you never tell me earlier? (sic)"
I smiled and walked back to the front. Thankfully, the rest of the journey was less eventful. We reached City Hall at 9.45am, and the last stop at 10am. There, SMRT staff told the driver to switch the external display to "Off Service", and to make his way back to Woodlands bus interchange to resume normal duty.
He was equally unsure, so I reopened Google Maps and accompanied him on the journey.
It was quite the morning, but I won't be remembering the anger and tension and confusion documented on the ground and over social media.
Instead, my one enduring image is what I saw when our shuttle passed three others in the Dhoby Ghaut area: Standing next to each driver, a passenger grasping a mobile phone in one hand while gesturing and giving directions with the other.
I won't be forgetting that sight of solidarity any time soon.
