SINGAPORE — Stretches of the North-South and East-West lines (NSEWL) could be partially closed until as late as noon on Sundays in order to accelerate sleeper replacement works that are currently underway.
The replacement works were scheduled for completion by 2019 but are now expected to be finished by 2016, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT joint task said at a media briefing today (May 14).
The team was tasked with looking into reducing disruptions and increasing reliability of the NSEWL.
SMRT also revealed that they are looking into purchasing machinery which would allow them to replace more sleepers during non-revenue hours, between 1.30am and 4.30am.
Currently, SMRT staff manually replace the sleepers and about 90 sleepers can be replaced during this period.
Thus far, 11,000 of the 188,000 sleepers, about 6 per cent, have been replaced.
The joint team also said that measures to improve rail service reliability and resilience on the NSEWL have started to show some results.
The number of train withdrawals decreased to a monthly average of 37 withdrawals in the first four months of 2013, compared to about 59 withdrawals in the first four months of 2012.
On the whole, the number of incidents causing disruptions of more than 10 minutes has also declined from 0.20 to 0.16 for every 100,000km of train run.
However, incidents causing a delay of more than 30 minutes continue to be an area of concern that the joint team will continue to work on, said Mr Chew Hock Yong, Chief Executive, Land Transport Authority.
There have been two such incidents in the first quarter of this year with only three being recorded for the whole of 2012.
Hallo? provide free baus rides even on sundays for affected commuters.
we dont care what is your design flaw lah, material flaw lah, your system is not ready for 5.3 mil and definitely not ready for 6.9 mil!
LTA's CEO Chew Hock Yong with more.
"Sometimes, the longer disruption is because a particular train on our network has stopped working, the motor does not run, and therefore we need to, the operator SMRT needs to, deploy another train to physically push out that train, and it takes a bit of time to do so, sometimes it takes longer than desired, and therefore maybe there are. Some measures that we can look at, maybe in terms of engineering or operating procedures, to see how this can be done faster, so that the recovery will be faster."
The programme to replace the timber sleepers which support the tracks will also be accelerated.
And this may mean suspending train services on a number of Sundays to allow more time for engineering works.
Currently, engineering hours are between 1.30am to 4.30am, during which only about 90 sleepers can be replaced.
And to date, only 6 percent of the 188,000 sleepers have been replaced.
SMRT said commuters will be informed in advance.
The power rail will also be getting an overhaul.
Both LTA and SMRT are in the process of formulating a plan to replace the third rail system. And to expedite replacement works, the third rail replacement programme will be coordinated with the sleeper replacement programme.
SMRT's CEO Desmond Kuek says boosting train capacity will also help improve reliability, with 35 more trains expected from 2014 to 2016.
"The new trains that we will bring in will help us to, first of all, boost the availability and this will be particularly helpful with peak period travel. With the new trains coming in, it will allow us to pull out some of the older first- and second-generation trains so that they can undergo the much needed overhaul programme, so that we bring about a much higher level of reliability and availability in the longer run."
The depot in Bishan will have three more maintenance tracks by 2015 to ensure repair works can be done at an optimum pace.
Originally posted by FireIce:LTA's CEO Chew Hock Yong with more.
"Sometimes, the longer disruption is because a particular train on our network has stopped working, the motor does not run, and therefore we need to, the operator SMRT needs to, deploy another train to physically push out that train, and it takes a bit of time to do so, sometimes it takes longer than desired, and therefore maybe there are. Some measures that we can look at, maybe in terms of engineering or operating procedures, to see how this can be done faster, so that the recovery will be faster."
The programme to replace the timber sleepers which support the tracks will also be accelerated.
And this may mean suspending train services on a number of Sundays to allow more time for engineering works.
Currently, engineering hours are between 1.30am to 4.30am, during which only about 90 sleepers can be replaced.
And to date, only 6 percent of the 188,000 sleepers have been replaced.
SMRT said commuters will be informed in advance.
The power rail will also be getting an overhaul.
Both LTA and SMRT are in the process of formulating a plan to replace the third rail system. And to expedite replacement works, the third rail replacement programme will be coordinated with the sleeper replacement programme.
SMRT's CEO Desmond Kuek says boosting train capacity will also help improve reliability, with 35 more trains expected from 2014 to 2016.
"The new trains that we will bring in will help us to, first of all, boost the availability and this will be particularly helpful with peak period travel. With the new trains coming in, it will allow us to pull out some of the older first- and second-generation trains so that they can undergo the much needed overhaul programme, so that we bring about a much higher level of reliability and availability in the longer run."
The depot in Bishan will have three more maintenance tracks by 2015 to ensure repair works can be done at an optimum pace.
so? your system is still not ready for our current 5.3mil, not tosay 6.9mil.
what will not work for in th epresent in the past, is not working in the present, how can you assure (by magic?) will work in the future?
so wat do YOU suggest?