Singapore, 28 March 2018

Outlook 2018: Better Journeys Ahead

1. SMRT is working closely with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to provide better journeys for MRT commuters. Our efforts to intensify renewal and maintenance work are showing improved results, with higher mean-kilometre between failure (MKBF) for the North-South & East-West Lines (NSEWL) and Circle Line (CCL) achieved in recent months.

2. For the full year of 2017, the MKBF for the North-South Line (NSL) more than doubled from 156,000 train-km in Dec 2016 to 336,000 train-km in Dec 2017. Over the same period, MKBF for the East-West Line (EWL) increased from 145,000 train-km to 278,000km, while the CCL’s MKBF increased from 228,000km to 523,000 train-km. 

3. With the strong support of Government, we are making good progress on the renewal projects for our core systems.  Following the completion of sleeper replacement, replacement of the power (third) rail, and the progressive stabilisation of a new Communications-based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system, we are now seeing a steady improvement in rail reliability as the network gets progressively renewed. For the first two months of 2018, the MKBF for the NSL and CCL has already exceeded next year’s target of 600,000 train-km. We expect the performance of the EWL to catch up after it settles in to the new signaling system.

4. The early closures and late opening along stretches of the network have also been most helpful in allowing engineering staff more time to carry out renewal and maintenance works. The extra time has allowed engineers from SMRT, LTA and Thales, the supplier of the CBTC system, to fast-track the implementation of the new signalling system on the EWL by June 2018 instead of end-2018.

5. We are also looking at Train Punctuality and Crowdedness as part of our commitment to put commuters first by delivering better MRT services. For Train Punctuality, we want to ensure that trains arrive at the end destination within two minutes of the scheduled arrival time. As for Crowdedness in the network, especially during peak periods, we are seeing improvements with more trains added to the lines. We took delivery of 45 new trains on the NSEWL since 2017, 24 new trains on CCL since 2016 and 13 new Trains on the Bukit Panjang LRT since 2014.

6. Group-wide, SMRT is continuing with improvements to its management and maintenance teams and has put in place programmes that serve to strengthen team work, ownership and accountability among the 10,500-strong staff.

7. In particular, the Trains team has seen its engineering headcount nearly triple from 175 engineers in 2012 to 500 engineers today to meet the increasing operational demands of an expanded network and a more rigorous maintenance regime. The number of engineers will grow by another 200 over the next two years. Since 2012, the entire Trains workforce has grown by 40% to more than 5,000 staff who serve in MRT stations, aboard MRT trains, in operations control centres, train depots and as part of the enhanced maintenance workforce deployed throughout the MRT network.

8. On the technology front, SMRT continues to leverage on new systems and technology for condition monitoring sensors, artificial intelligence, as well as data analytics processes. The adoption of new technologies allow our engineering teams to anticipate and avert faults by introducing preventive or predictive maintenance on a wider scale. SMRT is presently leveraging on some 30 types of condition monitoring sensors which monitor the health of train and track components real time, and provide alerts should intervention be required before a fault occurs. Should faults occur, the priority is to respond and recover the situation as swiftly as possible with operations and technical staff deployed within minutes in order to minimise inconvenience to commuters.

9. SMRT President & Group CEO, Mr Desmond Kuek, emphasised that SMRT will sustain the drive for excellence so that MRT commuters will continue to benefit from improvements in the MRT. Mr Kuek said: “Even as we intensify efforts to renew and improve the ageing and expanding network, we are also future-proofing ourselves, in collaboration with LTA and our technology partners, to proactively strengthen the resilience in our system. We do this with the view to ensuring a safe, reliable and comfortable transport service for all our commuters. Much progress has been made on all fronts, and more will be done. We will continue to build our engineering competencies, and raise the capacity and service quality of our workforce to deliver a great journey experience for everyone.”

10. The emphasis on strengthening and professionalising the workforce, and increased use of technology, is complemented by a drive to implement better processes at the work place. SMRT is striving towards improving workforce ownership and accountability through Kaizen-type processes that foster a commitment to continuous improvement by staff, who are grounded on core values and a strong sense of service excellence. At the same time, we are preparing our people to be future–ready with the right skill sets for longer-term employability because operating and maintaining an expanding MRT network will call for deep rail engineering knowledge and multidisciplinary competencies across mechanical, electrical, electronic, and civil engineering; as well as material, data and human sciences. Through constant innovations in people, processes and technology, we aim ultimately, to deliver safer, more reliable and comfortable journeys for our commuters.

11. SMRT Chairman, Mr Seah Moon Ming, added: “SMRT is fully committed to improving RAMSS – Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety and Security. We want to ensure that all MRT assets are properly maintained, renewed and upgraded throughout their entire life cycle so as to achieve punctuality and high availability of MRT services for our commuters. We are committed to develop our people to their fullest potential, anchored on our SMRT Core Values, with every member of Team SMRT dedicated to Kaizen to drive continuous improvement in their work place. In all that we do, the focus will be on improving the commuter’s journey across our multi-modal network.” 

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