Shorter waiting time for trains during peak periods

SINGAPORE — Commuters taking the train to work during the crushing morning peak periods will soon enjoy a quicker ride, with tighter standards on waiting times from 2016 for the North-South, North-East and Circle lines and 2018 for the East-West Line.

This is to take into account the new trains injected into the service and the completion of the resignalling system.

In a bid to further tighten rail’s operating performance standards, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be asking for train frequencies on the North-South and East-West Line (NSEWL) to be reduced to about 100 to 110 seconds, from 120 to 180 seconds before.

Additionally, frequencies for the North-East Line will improve to 120 seconds from 160 seconds, while the Circle Line will improve to 160 seconds from 210 seconds previously. This was announced in a press conference today (Jan 15).

LTA says this would mean an overall 25 per cent shorter wait time during morning peaks.

Beyond waiting times, the authority is also adding a new standard to track severe service degradation incidents — where the train is still running but at slow speeds for a prolonged period — that last longer than an hour. The time taken for trains to travel from one terminal station to the other terminal station at the end of the line will also be tracked.

Mr Lee Ling Wee, Managing Director of SMRT Trains said: "SMRT will continue to do its best to meet the new Operational Standards set by LTA, recognising that efforts are underway to renew an ageing rail infrastructure and to cater to much higher passenger loads."

He said that resleepering efforts on the North-South line have made "good progress" in the past year. It will continue over the next few years to include the East-West line, alongside critical programmes such as the introduction of new trains, the mid-life upgrade of existing trains, third-rail replacment and resignalling.