SINGAPORE — The Government is pushing for re-signalling work on rail operator SMRT’s North-South Line (NSL) to wrap up by the end of November, slightly ahead of the original year-end target.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed this in Parliament on Monday (Sept 11), in response to a question by Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah on the progress of the project to switch the old signalling system to a new one, and how much more time is needed before the new system stabilises.

Mr Khaw said that there is “no reason” the November deadline cannot be met, and new software put in place since July has been “very promising”. 

Noting that SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) are doing the last leg of testing, Mr Khaw said: “If we can complete it by the end of November, it would (be) quite an achievement.”

Mr Khaw, however, acknowledged that some hardware problems remain and have to be fixed, with certain equipment on trains causing some difficulties. These glitches include doors failing to open in sync with platform-screen doors and trains over-running station stops. 

The new signalling system was put on trial from March, during the final hour of weekday train services. These tests were then carried out on Sundays in April, and full-day trials on the line began in late May. 

The new signalling system, which promises speedier rides on the NSL, was scheduled to be in operation by the end of last year. 

Then, last October, the deadline was extended to the first quarter of this year. 

It needed more testing to ensure reliability, the LTA had said. 

Mr Khaw explained on Monday that full testing was to have taken place “much earlier”, but warnings of potential problems by the London Underground, which faced similar difficulties when re-signalling its Jubilee line, changed the project’s schedule and approach “very substantially”. 

“We decided to do a lot more testing during engineering hours before we started ... testing that involves passengers.”

There are plans to use the same system on the East-West Line, which is also run by SMRT. 

Right now, only the new stretch of the line between Joo Koon and Tuas West MRT stations runs on the new signalling system.

Mr Khaw hopes that the experience with the NSL would come in handy when the system is extended to the rest of the East-West Line, and that stabilising this would not take as much time as the NSL. 

He stressed that unlike newly built rail networks such as the Downtown Line 3, the NSL was a functioning train line which cannot be closed for testing. Adding to the challenge was that the existing signalling system is 30 years old. 

Trains, which have to be “completely re-wired”, also take a great deal of time to be calibrated and recalibrated, he added, noting that metro systems worldwide face the same challenges when undergoing re-signalling.  

Comparing Singapore’s experience with London’s — where the system there took a year to stabilise — Mr Khaw said that the team working on the project here thought it has done “much, much better” than originally thought. 

Several trip-ups have surfaced on the NSL in recent months owing to the re-signalling work. 

Towards the end of June, for instance, train delays for four straight days drew the ire of commuters. 

Mr Khaw said that the number of such delays, which peaked at about 20 in May, has continued to dip, with six recorded last month.

In Parliament, Ms Lee also asked whether the LTA was aware of commuters’ grouses about real-time updates during a train service disruption on June 28, which saw train services crippled on the entire NSL, and what was being done to ensure timely and accurate information.

Mr Khaw said that SMRT deployed 500 extra crew members to affected stations to manage crowds and help commuters during the delay. 

More than 3,200 announcements were also made in stations and trains, in addition to signs on alternative travel options, and other measures. 

On whether more direct bus services could be added to take commuters into the city for work, Mr Khaw replied that the Government would look into Ms Lee’s suggestion.