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Signalling tests, upgrading station facilities among work done during full Sunday closure

SINGAPORE – From replacing station lights that require extensive scaffolds to reach, to running trains on a new signalling system over a longer period, all-day MRT station closures will give rail workers a window to carry out work otherwise constrained by limited non-service hours, rail operator SMRT said.

Reporters were given a peek into the work being done during a visit to the Jurong East MRT Station. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Reporters were given a peek into the work being done during a visit to the Jurong East MRT Station. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE – From replacing station lights that require extensive scaffolds to reach, to running trains on a new signalling system over a longer period, all-day MRT station closures will give rail workers a window to carry out work otherwise constrained by limited non-service hours, rail operator SMRT said.

Early on Sunday (Dec 10) – the first of two Sundays of station closures – the operator put the new signalling system through the paces by running trains along parts of the affected 19-station stretch on the East-West and North-South Lines for about eight hours. This could not be done with the three non-service hours it has each night, SMRT said at a media briefing.

A total of 17 MRT stops on the East-West Line from Tiong Bahru to Tuas Link, as well as Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak along the North-South Line shut completely on Sunday, to allow more time for track maintenance and renewal work. The next full-day closure will happen next Sunday.

Giving reporters a peek into the work being done during a visit to the Jurong East MRT Station, Mr Siu Yow Wee, SMRT Trains’ director for building and facilities, said these include replacing components of the platform screens, such as rollers, which require workers to go down onto the tracks.

The closures also allow workers to clean the jet fans, or blowers, in the stations. As they carry “a lot of dust”, the fans cannot be cleaned during service hours, he said.

On Sunday, 40 SMRT teams, comprising about 160 engineers and technicians, were out and about doing maintenance and renewal work.

“Everybody is competing for track access to clean (these components), so today, we have the opportunity to do all this cleaning … Station closures do help us hasten these corrective maintenance (work),” said Mr Siu.

Also being replaced are track circuits, which detect the whereabouts of trains and set the speeds at which they should travel.

Mr Keith Lim, principal fellow for signalling and communications with SMRT Trains, said workers typically take two or three nights to replace one track circuit, which spans about 150m.

But the operator, which has two teams totalling nearly 20 working on the circuits on Sunday, was targeting to replace three circuits within the day.

“Basically, we’re squeezing two to three nights into one day,” said Mr Lim.

The rail operator is working to replace about 1,300 track circuits across the North-South and East-West Lines. Between 40 and 50 have been completed to date. Mr Lim said SMRT was working with its contractor to ramp things up further by putting on another team of workers by next month.

Noting the repertoire of works being done, Mr Siu said: “We’ll continue to make full use of the time given and would like to thank commuters for their patience and understanding.”

Apart from the two Sunday closures, the affected stations will also shut earlier at 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of this month. They will open later on Saturdays and Sundays, at 8am.

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