NSL to implement upgraded signalling system from March

SINGAPORE — The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be transiting to an upgraded signalling system on the North-South Line (NSL) in stages from March.

The new system will allow trains to run closer together, which means that during peak hours, they will arrive within 100 seconds of each other instead of the present 120 seconds — thus making for less congestion at the stations and a faster journey for passengers.

It is also equipped with features that provide greater redundancies in the event of signal faults. This will enhance rail reliability since critical components are duplicated as a form of back-up.

“We will begin operationalising the new signalling system during off-peak periods, when there is lower ridership, such as the last hour of train service and on Sundays, before operationalising it during busier periods,” the LTA said yesterday.

Re-signalling works on the trains, stations, depots and the operations control centre for the NSL were completed last year, but the LTA will be conducting more than 1,300 tests before putting the upgraded system into operation.

The tests include simulations to ensure that the new system responds quickly and effectively to unexpected conditions, such as loss of communication signals.

The LTA said it is transiting to the new system progressively due to the complex nature of re-signalling works, noting that other international operators had faced “significant teething problems during their own projects”.

As for the East-West Line, more than 85 per cent of the re-signalling works have been completed, and the new signalling system is expected to be operational in 2018, it added.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday officiated the completion of the sleeper replacement programme on the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL).

The project, which began in August 2013 and was completed last month, involved replacing 188,000 ageing wooden sleepers with concrete ones along the 200km of tracks on the NSEWL, Singapore’s oldest and most heavily-utilised rail lines.

“Sleeper replacement is one of the key projects in our efforts to renew and improve the performance of the NSEWL.

“In the coming months, we will also see the completion of re-signalling works on the North-South Line and the third-rail replacement project,” said Mr Chua Chong Kheng, LTA’s deputy chief executive (Infrastructure and Development).