When the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen launched its subway’s new Line 11 last month, it came with something not usually found in subways – a business-class section.
Photos circuating online recently showed huge disparity between the riderships for the two sections of the trains – extremely crowded regular sections and very roomy business-class sections with just a few passengers.
Shenzhen Metro’s Line 11, also known as the Airport Line, connects the city’s downtown areas and some suburban areas to its airport.
The business-class fares, between 6 and 30 yuan (between S$1.20 and S$6.10), are three times as expensive as standard fare (2 to 10 yuan). Each train has six standard train cabins and two business-class cabins.
internet
Reacting to the photos, some people have criticised the metro company for pursuing profits over public service, Shanghaiist reported.
“The company should always have people’s best interests at heart. Public transportation is supposed to be a public service available to all residents of China,” one person wrote online.
Others have complained that social-class divides should not exist in the subway service, and called the business-class initiative a waste of public resources.
In response to calls to scrap the division, officials from the company said that the business-class cabins fill up during the weekends, even if they look to be empty on weekdays.
Shanghaiist said that Shenzhen Metro, in an effort to placate the people, has announced that it will increase train frequency on Line 11 “to better meet commuters’ needs”.
With our MRT system bursting at the seams, will something like this be adopted in Singapore?
sinsh@sph.com.sg
