Why is there an SMRT staff member standing at the front of the train?

[u/Aliyev_Eshgin]

I have noticed that there is often an SMRT staff member standing at the front of the train. They do not even sit down.

Why are these staff members required? Are they there for safety, monitoring, or something else?

[u/manix1984]

EWL, NSL trains has cabin for their train captains, they used to be manually driven but is now driven automatically, but the cabin remains.

NEL, CCL, DTL, TEL trains does not have a cabin as it is supposed to be driverless train service. However, due to train, track, signal and power failures the response of staff to move a train by driving it manually must be quick and meet a certain timing set by LTA, otherwise the operating company will be fined by LTA.

So the simple answer why there are staff standing by in the front cabin is if in case of emergency, the staff can drive it manually or perform train defect rectification to recover the service quickly, instead of relying staff from station to access track, board the train and move or rectify the train.

[u/mark_heng → u/manix1984]

Great insight, thanks!

[u/Vegetable_Sea_9297 → u/manix1984]

How much cheaper is it spending on manpower vs tio fine though?

[u/manix1984 → u/Vegetable_Sea_9297]

If you search for fines served on SMRT over the years, the amount can go up to millions based on the duration of delay or disruption. I dunno the exact amount and how is it computed, but it must be substantial enough for train operators to put staff on train to remedy any issues.

[u/PlayGamesM → u/Vegetable_Sea_9297]

The safety and timing aspect....

Having to get approval, track access, send staff is less efficient than having the staff on board literally on the train.

If there is an onboard incident staff also already can start responding.

[u/work_to_death]

no staff on train = singaporeans complain

have 1 staff on train = singaporeans complain

if staff sit down = singaporeans will also complain

[u/Bitter-Rattata → u/work_to_death]

More than 2 staffs = are we wasting resources and farepayers money = Singaporeans complain

[u/laughing_hyena1234 → u/Bitter-Rattata]

Staff breathing = waste of oxygen = Singapoureans complain

[u/nokman013 → u/work_to_death]

National Hobby mah

[u/Eastern-Coast-5463 → u/work_to_death]

I think it's more out of curiosity than a complaining spirit! I often wondered what their role was as well but didn't think to ask

[u/princemousey1 → u/work_to_death]

In this post, staff stands up = OP also complains.

Really no winning.

[u/Late_Culture_8472]

Standby to drive the train if there's fault in the system and the train cannot move in auto mode.

[u/Horror-Assignment133]

I just always thought they are going home 💀

[u/throw2503]

They are probably called to travel to another station.

[u/Ok-Charge-9091]

And they usually carry a light sabre to direct traffic. lol

[u/mrfoxesite-2377 → u/Ok-Charge-9091]

That's a small light saber and its only during peak hours.

[u/Ok_Comparison_2635]

To create jobs because AI took away most of it.

[u/Christianmonk3y]

Sometimes they are also checking for issues on thr track or tunnels.

[u/Silver_Weekend6240]

They are known as “Rovers”

[u/Training-Stable6234]

I didn’t know job market was this bad

[u/wongbikini35]

They Are Guiding passengers to the Train