SINGAPORE – A $2.6 billion programme to renew the North-South and East-West MRT lines is slated to be mostly completed by December.

Four of the six core systems have been upgraded – replacing sleepers that hold the running rail in place, changing the third rail that supplies traction power to trains, upgrading the signalling system, and renewing the power system.

New concrete sleepers, which replace the badly worn wooden ones, ensure safer operation of trains.

The third rail was the main cause of two massive breakdowns in 2011 that resulted in a Committee of Inquiry being convened.

The new signalling system allows trains to run at 100-second intervals instead of the previous 120-second gaps – which will reduce crowding on trains as well as on station platforms.

The glitchy power system had also caused Singapore’s biggest rail breakdown in 2015, which brought the North-South, East-West lines to a standstill during the evening rush hour of July 7. The new power system – completed in September 2023 – is expected to be more robust, and has sensors that can detect faults before they manifest into something serious.

Work is still going on to replace the two lines’ track circuit system. This is due to be completed by December. Track circuits, along with the trains’ signalling system, are communication systems that ultimately prevent collision.

Lastly, seven of 106 new trains ordered have entered service. The rest will be rolled out by 2026. When everything is in place, MRT users can expect swifter, safer and more dependable commutes, although industry watchers reckon that maintenance and renewal works never really end.

For instance, sections of the steel rails which the trains run on are replaced as and when they are worn down, or when cracks are detected.

But even with only the first three systems upgraded, the two oldest lines have been clocking more than one million mean kilometres between failure (MKBF) since 2019, compared with 70,000 MKBF and 60,000 MKBF on the North-South and East-West lines respectively in 2012 when the renewal programme started.

MKBF – a measure of rail reliability – refers to the mean kilometres travelled between delays lasting more than five minutes.

Spanning more than 100km, the two lines serve the most populated corridors of the island, with trains covering some 20 million train-km each year.

Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat paid tribute to the men and women who made the renewal programme possible in a speech at Bishan Depot on Wednesday morning.

He mentioned Mr Krishnasamy Kotaraju, a power supply engineer who has been with SMRT since 1988 and started out as an assistant maintenance engineer working with analogue components.

“He reskilled himself through continuous education and training, and transitioned to the team that delivered the new power supply system, equipped with real-time condition monitoring capabilities,” Mr Chee said.

The power supply renewal works encompassed the replacement of 1,300km of power cables, 250km of fibre-optic cables, and “hundreds of power transformers and switchboards”, he said.

“The total length of all the power cables is equivalent to almost six times the length of Singapore’s coastline,” he said, adding that the new system has real-time fault detection and prediction so that operators can fix a flaw in a more timely fashion.

Land Transport Authority (LTA) senior project manager Mohamad Ridhwan Abdul Lazim was also mentioned.

His team worked on replacing the lines’ sleepers and third rails.

“One of his key tasks was to closely coordinate the deployment of equipment and crew, and to carry out the works safely, while operating at night where visibility can be a challenge,” Mr Chee noted.

Ms Wang Yizhen, an engineer from the LTA’s rolling stock team, went to China during “the height of Covid-19” to station herself at a train factory in Changchun to supervise the manufacturing and testing of trains.

“They must have endured weeks of quarantine when they went to China, and quite possibly many rounds of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests,” Mr Chee said, adding that Ms Wang was one of the first engineers deployed, and she spent more than six months in a single deployment there.

Commuters welcomed the near completion of renewal works, which have spanned more than a decade.

Programme manager Eugene Mok, 38, said he is especially looking forward to the newer trains. “The upgrading works seem to have resulted in noticeably shorter delays and breakdowns, and increased frequency of trains. But it would be even better if works can be done within the cabins to improve comfort levels for commuters. Sometimes the air-con is non-existent.”

Ms Carrie Shum, a 28-year-old Hong Konger and communications professional who works here, said she had noticed that train journeys here take longer than in Hong Kong.

“I am looking forward to a more efficient train ride,” she said, when told of the upgrading works.

Author Jimmy Chua, 39, said: “It is good to have a new signalling system in place, so we can have shorter intervals between trains during peak hours. And a new power system that may prevent downtimes. And there are more empty spaces for wheelchairs and baby strollers on the newer trains.

“I think commuters are happy when trains come regularly, are less crowded and the air-con is strong within the cabins.”

Engineer Ng Guan Hong, 53, said: “Replacement of old trains and systems is part and parcel of the MRT maintenance programme. What I look forward to more is how the LTA can help to manage the cost on the passenger end, and not to transfer costs to users.”

Completion of six core systems and cost:

• Replacement of rail wooden sleepers: Completed in December 2016
• Replacement of third rail: Completed in September 2017, $370 million (together with re-sleepering)
• Upgrading of train signalling system: Completed in 2018, $195 million
• Replacement of power system: Completed in September 2023, $500 million
• Replacement of track circuit system: To be completed in December 2023, $73 million
• Replacement of older trains: 26 out of 106 new trains ordered have arrived. Seven have been put in service, with the rest slated to join them by 2026, $1.5 billion