their faregate machine does not scan your card successfully. This might have happened to you, and you may not be even aware of it.
During peak hours in busy MRT stations, there are usually a large number of passengers at the faregates, waiting for their turn to tap their Ezlink cards. Due to the card reader's response time and the confusing info displayed on its screen, a passenger may be unsure whether his/her card has been successfully scanned. Stressed by the queue of people waiting behind, a passenger in such a situation may be forced to exit through the faregate. When the passenger takes his/her card to the SMRT staff in the Station Control Room to check, they would deduct a few times more than the correct fare.
Below are screenshots of the transaction records of one such incident, when my wife and myself were travelling together. Note the difference in the amounts deducted for the transfer trip from Sembawang to Woodlands. Correct fare is $0.16 and SMRT staff in the Station Control Room deducted $0.75 when I approached them to check my card.
My wife and I use public transport everyday (bus and MRT). Only last month (May 2014) did we notice such a problem, which probably has been happening to us in the past few years. Such penalty is very unfair to the passengers. We wrote to SMRT about this on 9 May 2014. only after a few email exchanges, on 20 June 2014, did they send me an reply which actually answered my query. Their reply is pasted below. In short, they are saying: "There is nothing wrong with their machines or standard operating procedure. Once a passenger exits a faregate without their Ezlink card having been scanned successfully, he/she will be penalized by having his/her transfer rebate forfeited.
"We have completed our investigations regarding the matter and wish to share that on the day concerned both you and your wife had travelled from Sembawang Station to Woodlands Station. However, upon exiting at Woodlands Station your exit at the gate was not captured and you had approached our staff at Woodlands Station for your card to be upgraded. Thus, the full fare of the journey (75 cents) was deducted from your card. The fare deductions on your wife’s card were the discounted fare which had the transfer rebate from taking a bus prior to your train ride.
Nevertheless, to avoid similar circumstances we would suggest, upon entry and exit of the gates at stations, please take note of the screen on the gates if your card’s entry/exit are captured or avoid standing too close to the person in front of you as you are tapping to exit at the same time.
Please be assured that, from our investigations with the gates, we conclude that no abnormalities were found."
I am disappointed by SMRT's reply. I would advise my friends taking SMRT train rides to be extra careful when they tap their Ezlink cards at faregates. I would suggest one should wait until the "GO" screen for the previous passenger is gone and the green arrow reappears before you tap your card. If you tap your card anytime before that, SMRT's faregate machine might not be able to capture your exit, especially so when the passenger before you is using a concession pass. This is from my wife's and my experience. This means that you need to stand in front of the faregate for about 2 more seconds, while the passengers queueing behind you may be becoming impatient, especially during rush hours.
During peak hours in busy MRT stations, there are usually a large number of passengers at the faregates, waiting for their turn to tap their Ezlink cards. Due to the card reader's response time and the confusing info displayed on its screen, a passenger may be unsure whether his/her card has been successfully scanned. Stressed by the queue of people waiting behind, a passenger in such a situation may be forced to exit through the faregate. When the passenger takes his/her card to the SMRT staff in the Station Control Room to check, they would deduct a few times more than the correct fare.
Below are screenshots of the transaction records of one such incident, when my wife and myself were travelling together. Note the difference in the amounts deducted for the transfer trip from Sembawang to Woodlands. Correct fare is $0.16 and SMRT staff in the Station Control Room deducted $0.75 when I approached them to check my card.
My wife and I use public transport everyday (bus and MRT). Only last month (May 2014) did we notice such a problem, which probably has been happening to us in the past few years. Such penalty is very unfair to the passengers. We wrote to SMRT about this on 9 May 2014. only after a few email exchanges, on 20 June 2014, did they send me an reply which actually answered my query. Their reply is pasted below. In short, they are saying: "There is nothing wrong with their machines or standard operating procedure. Once a passenger exits a faregate without their Ezlink card having been scanned successfully, he/she will be penalized by having his/her transfer rebate forfeited.
"We have completed our investigations regarding the matter and wish to share that on the day concerned both you and your wife had travelled from Sembawang Station to Woodlands Station. However, upon exiting at Woodlands Station your exit at the gate was not captured and you had approached our staff at Woodlands Station for your card to be upgraded. Thus, the full fare of the journey (75 cents) was deducted from your card. The fare deductions on your wife’s card were the discounted fare which had the transfer rebate from taking a bus prior to your train ride.
Nevertheless, to avoid similar circumstances we would suggest, upon entry and exit of the gates at stations, please take note of the screen on the gates if your card’s entry/exit are captured or avoid standing too close to the person in front of you as you are tapping to exit at the same time.
Please be assured that, from our investigations with the gates, we conclude that no abnormalities were found."
I am disappointed by SMRT's reply. I would advise my friends taking SMRT train rides to be extra careful when they tap their Ezlink cards at faregates. I would suggest one should wait until the "GO" screen for the previous passenger is gone and the green arrow reappears before you tap your card. If you tap your card anytime before that, SMRT's faregate machine might not be able to capture your exit, especially so when the passenger before you is using a concession pass. This is from my wife's and my experience. This means that you need to stand in front of the faregate for about 2 more seconds, while the passengers queueing behind you may be becoming impatient, especially during rush hours.
