S'pore trains overcowded? Look at Big MRT crush in Japan!

Many of us who commute to work by MRT probably grumble about the crowds, but nothing beats trains in Tokyo. During morning peak hour, faces squashed right up against the doors are a common sight because carriages are packed to bursting.

These pictures were taken by Michael Wolf, a German-born photographer who is most famous for his works on contemporary life in Asia. His series of photographs, titled 'Tokyo Compression', are an archive of the daily train battle Japanese commuters must undergo in order to get to work.

Comments:

‘Not again? The train is fully packed again?! Oh man, I have to wait for another train again! I’m going to be late for classes again and again!’ I believed that majority of the people who are taking the public transport during the peak hours would think of, regarding they are reporting to school or for work. Indeed, some will feel so uncomfortable to squeeze into the MRT without any other choices as they are almost late for school or work. Due to the limited pole available for you to grab on and limited spaces, sometimes you will feel unsecure when the train is going to hit a turn or a sudden stop. However, to compare our situation with the Japan’s situation, theirs would be worst. Just by browsing through certain photos, it could be seen that there are not much spaces available for them to fully balance themselves. Hence they are just lying on the doors or relaying on someone’s body to get them balanced. What could be worst for them is that, it does not only bring them discomfort and unsecure, their mood for the day would probably be affected too. In order to prevent this kind of problems getting worst, Japan’s government had implemented a new strategy, and it is to have a special train only designed for females. Through this strategy, majority of the females would feel safer in the packed train and it would also helps to reduce the flow of crowd during the peak hours. Perhaps, Singapore’s government had also increased the number of MRT released during the peak hours to reduce the problems of the passengers are facing currently. On the contrary, the problems of crowds occurring in both countries have not been solved. Hence, I think the government should think of more ways to solve it. For example, increased more number of MRT released so as to cut down the waiting time. Implement more new MRT track ways, so that some of the passengers would use other routes instead of just one route to reach to their destination.  

Yan Ling