Improving Reliability of Bukit Panjang LRT System

4 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Transport what are the Government's plans to improve the medium- to long-term term reliability of the Bukit Panjang LRT system and what are the immediate- to short-term plans to improve commuter service and experience when there are breakdowns and stoppages in the LRT system.

The Second Minister for Transport (Mr Ng Chee Meng) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, the Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (BPLRT) is our next oldest rail line after the North-South and East-West Lines. The system is nearing the end of its design life and is due for renewal.

Most of the disruptions on BPLRT have been due to power-related faults. In the immediate term, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) are carrying out detailed checks of the Light Rail Transit's (LRT's) power rails and performing hotspot replacement works where needed. LTA will also install a new power source at the Ten Mile Junction substation to provide a back-up to the existing system at Choa Chu Kang. Both exercises will be completed by year end. In the meantime, LTA and SMRT are looking to extend engineering hours to cater to these additional works. This would mean shorter operating hours and we hope to have commuters’ understanding on this.

In addition, SMRT is forming a quick response team to rectify train faults and shorten service recovery times. The proximity of the new Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub will also allow SMRT to deploy buses rapidly to ferry commuters during a service disruption.

In the first half of 2018, LTA will be awarding a contract to renew BPLRT. When completed, reliability will improve substantially.

Mr Speaker: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): I thank the Second Minister for his commitment to fix the LRT problem with both long-term and short-term solutions. The feedback I have received from my residents in Bukit Panjang Town is that while they are unhappy with the frequent disruptions of BPLRT, they still find that the LRT serves their commuting needs and hope that the LRT will continue as another mode of transport in Bukit Panjang Town.

My first question to the Second Minister is: with this revamp, is there any indication of the timeline, what are the different phases involved and whether there will be disruptions in the process as the operator tries to fix the longer-term problems?

Secondly, in the meantime, when these are in progress, can the bus resources be increased to serve as a back-up whenever there are stoppages, and also to provide alternatives, especially during the crowded peak periods?

Mr Ng Chee Meng: Mr Speaker, there were good engineering lessons learnt from BPLRT over the years and we are intending to up the engineering hours to provide LTA and SMRT to have more time on the tracks. Though this will cause short-term disruptions, we will be providing bus services to bridge any of the inconveniences for the commuters.

In the upgrading process, there will be requirements to secure different parts of the BPLRT. Likewise, where we can, SMRT will provide the bus services to alleviate commuters' inconveniences. But because Bukit Panjang is a relatively mature estate, there are limits to how many buses we can put on the roads without causing further congestion. So, we ask for commuters' understanding while we do the short-term and the longer-term upgrades.

Mr Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I have two supplementary questions. The fact that there will be another tender called to revamp the BPLRT means that it is useful. My question is: will there be an LRT plan for Yishun Town?

Secondly, Yishun is served by the North-South Line, which is the oldest, even older that Bukit Panjang LRT. What plans does the Ministry have to reduce the breakdown rate because, recently, there are still a lot of breakdowns?

Mr Ng Chee Meng: Mr Speaker, as usual, I thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for the question. I regret to inform the hon Member that the LRT is not in the works for Yishun Town. But for the North-South Line, there have been a lot of engineering works done on two fronts. One, on the maintenance front, we have upped the reliability to almost 400,000 kilometres before failure. This is for the maintenance regime upgrade on the North-South Line. In parallel, we have been doing a signalling upgrading on the North-South Line. Things have gone on relatively well, short of a couple of major breakdowns in June and July. But we are fixing the software issues and, by year-end, we hope to have the new signalling system operating on the North-South Line. That will bring better service and conveniences to the hon Member's residents.