Lay Up And Redeployment of SMRT's Scania L113CRL (ELBO CAC)
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
If SMRT is trying to achieve a 40% WAB fleet while trying to avoid a fleet expansion at all costs, then I can forsee a real disaster for everyone later on. And when I said everyone, I really mean everyone: SMRT's management will have to explain why they squandered away so much money on buying new buses to replace old buses that still have a considerable number of years within their statuory lifespan and could probably be fixed more cheaply, and why - if they were running out of depot space, were they not planning to get a new bus depot; commuters will continue having to put up with unaceptably- and unbearably-long waiting times for SMRT buses, and bus fans will grieve over the loss of several bus models and the further "Stalinisation" of the local bus fleet.
Trust me, while I'm not sure where Saw Phaik Hwa is taking SMRT buses to, I'm pretty sure she only thought about herself and her bank account when she made the decisions, and no-one and nothing else.
When this disaster happens, I bet she will have a lot of explaining to do, if she hasn't ran off with the money and left the carnage for someone else to take over, that is.
I'm not sure what exactly you're talkng about, but when the day comes, i guess the government will really step in.I was thinking of saying this but i must make a disclaimer first - No offence to you, just what i feel :)
If you feel that you're more capable at managing SMRT Corp, why not take over the current CEO?
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Originally posted by TIB537B:
I'm not sure what exactly you're talkng about, but when the day comes, i guess the government will really step in.I was thinking of saying this but i must make a disclaimer first - No offence to you, just what i feel :)
If you feel that you're more capable at managing SMRT Corp, why not take over the current CEO?
I can tell you straight into your face, that not only myself, but virtually anyone else with enough experience with public transport (read: use it daily or often) could take over SMRT and do a much better job than her, a sports car-driving profit-driven woman who spends money on countless hair-recolouring sessions, if any of us could.
Seriously. I'm not joking.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
I can tell you straight into your face, that not only myself, but virtually anyone else with enough experience with public transport (read: use it daily or often) could take over SMRT and do a much better job than her, a sports car-driving profit-driven woman who spends money on countless hair-recolouring sessions, if any of us could.
Seriously. I'm not joking.
Like a democratic process, if a leader of a country, or a company is found to be incapable or recklessly leads the company and the board to trouble, he/she will be ousted or fired. -
Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
If SMRT is trying to achieve a 40% WAB fleet while trying to avoid a fleet expansion at all costs, then I can forsee a real disaster for everyone later on. And when I said everyone, I really mean everyone: SMRT's management will have to explain why they squandered away so much money on buying new buses to replace old buses that still have a considerable number of years within their statuory lifespan and could probably be fixed more cheaply, and why - if they were running out of depot space, were they not planning to get a new bus depot; commuters will continue having to put up with unaceptably- and unbearably-long waiting times for SMRT buses, and bus fans will grieve over the loss of several bus models and the further "Stalinisation" of the local bus fleet.
Trust me, while I'm not sure where Saw Phaik Hwa is taking SMRT buses to, I'm pretty sure she only thought about herself and her bank account when she made the decisions, and no-one and nothing else.
When this disaster happens, I bet she will have a lot of explaining to do, if she hasn't ran off with the money and left the carnage for someone else to take over, that is.
there are many factors to consider when laying up buses/deregistering buses such as Costs etc etc. and i dun see why SMRT have to maintain so many bus types in their fleet, just to keep bus fan happy? They need to keep spare parts for each bus type. Need to have maintaintence personels familiar with each bus type as well.
As for the new bus depot and additional new WAB buses, i believe SMRT might not want to do anything now (beside the 66 new buses+ another 66 on tender), as LTA is going to revamp the bus system. i Believe that SMRT might slowly reduce its fleet and maybe giving up some of current bus routes through the tendering system since their bus division is losing money.. The marriage between SMRT and TIBS is arrange by government, and now government have admit that it is better for one operator to operate MRT instead. I believe SMRT would rather focus their resources on MRT instead.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
I can tell you straight into your face, that not only myself, but virtually anyone else with enough experience with public transport (read: use it daily or often) could take over SMRT and do a much better job than her, a sports car-driving profit-driven woman who spends money on countless hair-recolouring sessions, if any of us could.
Seriously. I'm not joking.
nothing wrong with what car she drive, or how many times she does her hair-recolouring. She is free to do what she want. You can also drive a sport car if you could, or do hair-recolouring/rebonding or whatever... She is still managing the company and the train division is still making money and she could answer to her shareholders. i dun think the shareholders would complain of her hair colours or what car she drive.
and your point that "virtually anyone else with enough experience with public transport (read: use it daily or often) could take over SMRT and do a much better job than her", is not valid. My mum and dad took bus and mrt everyday, buti dun think they are able to manage SMRT. Likewise for hundred and thousands of other commuters including me. If really let some other ppl with enough experience with public transport to go run SMRT, i think sooner or later ,SMRT would collapse .Imagine if a bus fan run SMRT and buy all sorts of new buses (no matter how much it cost), introduce whatever fancy routes/short trips etc, pledge not to increase bus fare, increase frequency to 3 mins , extend operation hours, All the cost will go up and how long can they keep on doing this? Likewise for the train operation, SMRT can provide 2 mins frequency from 5am to 1am daily, but then who is going to pay for the cost when the trains are running empty during off peak hours? Ultimately, train fares will raise, but then you will complain again.
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i would say her retail background has done some good. shops at the MRT station(sweettalk, yakun, old chang kee, ananas cafe) would never have taken place if not for her.
the mrt station would only be a... well, mrt station. -
I heard TIB848D got the new Door Closing sign similar to the O405G Habit Bendies
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
If SMRT is trying to achieve a 40% WAB fleet while trying to avoid a fleet expansion at all costs, then I can forsee a real disaster for everyone later on. And when I said everyone, I really mean everyone: SMRT's management will have to explain why they squandered away so much money on buying new buses to replace old buses that still have a considerable number of years within their statuory lifespan and could probably be fixed more cheaply, and why - if they were running out of depot space, were they not planning to get a new bus depot; commuters will continue having to put up with unaceptably- and unbearably-long waiting times for SMRT buses, and bus fans will grieve over the loss of several bus models and the further "Stalinisation" of the local bus fleet.
Trust me, while I'm not sure where Saw Phaik Hwa is taking SMRT buses to, I'm pretty sure she only thought about herself and her bank account when she made the decisions, and no-one and nothing else.
When this disaster happens, I bet she will have a lot of explaining to do, if she hasn't ran off with the money and left the carnage for someone else to take over, that is.
生人请生脑袋。。。 Bus fans grieve over the loss? Better phrase please...
And I am sure SPH does not buy the buses herself, she does not make the decision herself either. I am sure she is only informed of the purchase, not given the decision over it.
SMRT made a well informed decision to buy a Euro 5 bus straightaway, coupled with a bodywork design that changes outlook of public transport in Singapore. A powerful combination in fact. We will never know if they had information of SBS Transit's purchase of the K230UB, but they took a notch higher in an all-rounded aspect of the vehicle over its competitor, based on practical performance and asthetics. By saying 'Southeast Asia's First Euro 5 Bus' actually sound nicer to the public than 'Singapore's First Euro 4 Bus'. Never mind if people here says that the OC here does not look nice; the general public opinion say it does.
If you say that SPH makes the decision to buy the buses, then I am sure you have not worked in a company of the scale of SMRT before. Maybe in a 'mama' shop, the boss will decide what racks to buy and what aircon temperature there is to be set, but in a large company, try buying buses on the whimp of fancy and the CEO position will be up to the next contender.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
I can tell you straight into your face, that not only myself, but virtually anyone else with enough experience with public transport (read: use it daily or often) could take over SMRT and do a much better job than her, a sports car-driving profit-driven woman who spends money on countless hair-recolouring sessions, if any of us could.
Seriously. I'm not joking.
My mum takes the MRT to and fro Yishun & Orchard daily for her work, plus the feeder that goes to the interchange from my home, both run by SMRT. Yet I don't see her wishing to take over SMRT Corp.
Since you want to take over SMRT, why not? The doors are always open for people like you...
Seriously. I'm not joking.
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Think it will be good if the government revert to those old days when there was a single MRT operator and 2 bus operators, SBS and Tibs bus operators and an SMRT train operator.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
If SMRT is trying to achieve a 40% WAB fleet while trying to avoid a fleet expansion at all costs, then I can forsee a real disaster for everyone later on. And when I said everyone, I really mean everyone: SMRT's management will have to explain why they squandered away so much money on buying new buses to replace old buses that still have a considerable number of years within their statuory lifespan and could probably be fixed more cheaply, and why - if they were running out of depot space, were they not planning to get a new bus depot; commuters will continue having to put up with unaceptably- and unbearably-long waiting times for SMRT buses, and bus fans will grieve over the loss of several bus models and the further "Stalinisation" of the local bus fleet.
Trust me, while I'm not sure where Saw Phaik Hwa is taking SMRT buses to, I'm pretty sure she only thought about herself and her bank account when she made the decisions, and no-one and nothing else.
When this disaster happens, I bet she will have a lot of explaining to do, if she hasn't ran off with the money and left the carnage for someone else to take over, that is.
Put this in perspective....if they don't do away with the DAFs and ELBOs, then they'll definitely have to get even more OCs or other WAB types to achieve 40%. And I'm not at all sure the ELBOs can be fixed cheaply.
There's a consensus the ELBO's bodywork is really falling apart despite some cut and paste efforts from other bodies which indicates that they don't have the means to mantain them properly. If I have to phase out the ELBOs to make way for the OCs, and considering their condition, I would do it.
And she won't have to explain.....LTA still owes me an explaination why fares have not come down yet.
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Originally posted by muziq bus:
so UD + ELBO + DAF = 132 OC??
if so, then SMRT must have planned this out way back already.
then this means bus frequencies remain the same and no new trunk services. tsk tskPlausible. But I don't think the 3 models will make up 132 buses, most probably slightly lesser.
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Originally posted by off_service:
Plausible. But I don't think the 3 models will make up 132 buses, most probably slightly lesser.
I believe they had attrition in mind too.....and a little expansion. -
Still remember in 1996, I took those NAC Scania ELBOs on service 169 when new and it has unique interiors compared to other Tibs buses. Those buses were ok but rather bumpy. And I noticed that most of the front windscreens were being modified from its original design. Tibs converted all the NAC Scania ELBOs to CAC in 2001 in order to achieve 100% FAC fleet, and I think that the condition of the buses worsened year by year.
Those Merc 0405s though they were older in fleet but overall conditions it is still good and smooth since day 1. For the other OAC models like the DAF and Lances still ok though their bus conditions also worsened a bit.
All the while I was just wondering why Tibs bought in this NAC model way back in 1996 and now phasing them out only at the lifespan of 12-13 years
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Originally posted by Apex-LW'21:
I heard TIB848D got the new Door Closing sign similar to the O405G Habit Bendies
Well, actually TIB848D is the only ELBO that has got refurbishment last two years(i think) due to complaints about the dirty and dusty interior. I took the bus on 961 when its perm. The interior ceiling and those green colour covers were repainted. Even the "DOORS CLOSING" sign were changed, using those Habit bendies'. The green cover itself where the "exit" sign was located, was also modified. That time the air-con was also quite cold. Think its also gone refurbishment.So, if your want to take the bus, try taking it. It could be abit different from other ELBOs. By the way, its perm 961.
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The ELBO bodywork was never designed to be air-conditioned.
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Originally posted by off_service:
Plausible. But I don't think the 3 models will make up 132 buses, most probably slightly lesser.
49 OAC Scania Striders + 46 DAFs + 41 UMW Lances + 14 UK LancesTotal 150 fleets.
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Originally posted by eX.A.K.R.:
If SMRT is trying to achieve a 40% WAB fleet while trying to avoid a fleet expansion at all costs, then I can forsee a real disaster for everyone later on. And when I said everyone, I really mean everyone: SMRT's management will have to explain why they squandered away so much money on buying new buses to replace old buses that still have a considerable number of years within their statuory lifespan and could probably be fixed more cheaply, and why - if they were running out of depot space, were they not planning to get a new bus depot; commuters will continue having to put up with unaceptably- and unbearably-long waiting times for SMRT buses, and bus fans will grieve over the loss of several bus models and the further "Stalinisation" of the local bus fleet.
Trust me, while I'm not sure where Saw Phaik Hwa is taking SMRT buses to, I'm pretty sure she only thought about herself and her bank account when she made the decisions, and no-one and nothing else.
When this disaster happens, I bet she will have a lot of explaining to do, if she hasn't ran off with the money and left the carnage for someone else to take over, that is.
Not that I side SMRT, but you need to relook what you said.
40% WAB without fleet expansion do sound bad, but parking space and manpower is a major constraint for both bus companies these days. Keeping a bus fleet young can be a good strategy. Reminds me of what SIA used to do (and perhaps now too).
I think anyone would agree that having lesser models could prove more cost efficient than having few. 900 K230s from SBS Transit could prove this point.
If Saw doesn't look into profits, do you think you can have OC500LEs now? If the profits dipped into the negative regions, you won't even have King Longs. -
Originally posted by TIB1018B:
49 OAC Scania Striders + 46 DAFs + 41 UMW Lances + 14 UK LancesTotal 150 fleets.
You didn't read carefully.muziq bus said "UD + ELBO + DAF".
ELBO only meant the 15 units of the L113CRL bodied by ELBO.
UD = Dennis???
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Originally posted by TIB1018B:
49 OAC Scania Striders + 46 DAFs + 41 UMW Lances + 14 UK LancesTotal 150 fleets.
Erm it's UD, not Dennis Lance.
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Originally posted by Oceane:
The ELBO bodywork was never designed to be air-conditioned.
That could be the main reason why the bus conditions worsened after the buses were converted to aircon in 2001. -
Originally posted by off_service:
Erm it's UD, not Dennis Lance.
I mean all the non Merc bus models that SMRT have
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Originally posted by TIB1018B:
I mean all the non Merc bus models that SMRT have
That includes urself -
Originally posted by Oceane:
The ELBO bodywork was never designed to be air-conditioned.
If....the 15 units of NAC Scanias came in Strider bodywork :p we'll still have 15 buses more today. Strider with NAC windows. -
Originally posted by TIB537B:
If....the 15 units of NAC Scanias came in Strider bodywork :p we'll still have 15 buses more today. Strider with NAC windows.Look quite weird and funny to me. =)