SBS Transit said the power trip did not affect train services. Commuters were seen using their handphones to light the way as they made their way out of the station.

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SBS Transit said the power trip did not affect train services. Commuters were seen using their handphones to light the way as they made their way out of the station.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Blackout hits Outram MRT station: MRT commuters use phones as flashlights

A blackout hit parts of Outram Park MRT station Monday, Jan 20, 2014, morning and commuters made their way through the station in relative darkness with some using their phones to light the way.

Stomp contributor lokolalu was among the commuters who were affected by the blackout and said commuters had to use their phone's light to help them see where they walked.

Another Stomp contributor, who was making his way to the East West Line, said some parts of Outram Park station were hit by the blackout.

Stomp contributor Panda2708 added:

"Underground link between East West Line and North East Line experienced a blackout early in the morning.

"MRT staff seen holding torches and standing at different parts of the walkway."

In a separate incident that also took place this morning, a train fault occurred on the North-South Line that caused an estimated 20 minutes delay on the North-South Line

According to a report in The Straits Times, the train fault occurred at Ang Mo Kio station.

At about 8.54am, an announcement was made asking all passengers to alight at Ang Mo Kio.

Bus services were been activated between Woodlands and Bishan.

Stomp contributors William, AshenWind, and milankaka wrote in to Stomp with photos of the crowds.

William felt it would make more sense to focus on fixing the increasingly frequent train disruptions and delays, before implementing a fare hike.

AshenWind likened the sight of huge crowds at Khatib and Bishan MRT stations to a scene at a club, while milankaka wrote:

"SMRT train breakdown again."

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Many train commuters use the fare gates meant for disabled people and those with prams or luggage, even when they see these people waiting to use the gates.

What is even more frustrating is to see MRT staff standing near the gates and not attempting to stop them.

MRT staff should be empowered to help those in need.

Samuel Ng

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Before reviewing the penalties for flouting MRT rules, the authorities and train operators should do more to educate the public on the regulations ("Penalties for flouting MRT rules under review"; last Saturday).

For instance, not many know that it is an offence to pass items between the paid and unpaid areas without going through the fare gates. I often see people doing just that.

It makes no sense for someone to enter the paid area for just a few seconds to pass an item to another person.

If security is an issue, items passed into paid areas can be screened by the security staff.

Then, there is the offence of "entering or remaining in a train when it is full", which carries a maximum penalty of $500.

How does one define a "full" train? If the train is full and no one gets off, is that an offence?

And if someone manages to squeeze in, will he also be fined? Don't the operators want their trains to be running at full capacity?

Indeed, it is timely for a review of MRT rules.

Adam Tan

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Two carriages of a new train that has been undergoing testing derailed at Bishan Depot yesterday.

SMRT spokesman Alina Boey said they "slipped off the track" while the train was pulling out of the stabling yard. No passengers were on board and there were no injuries.

The company stressed that the train had not been put into service yet and that normal services were not affected by the incident.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) was informed of the incident at around noon.

A spokesman for LTA said some of the wheels on the third and fourth carriages were found to have been affected.

Neither SMRT nor the LTA elaborated on what caused the two carriages to go off the track, and it is unclear how the incident occurred.

SMRT staff were spotted along the tracks in the depot repairing the train yesterday afternoon.

They had separated the first two carriages of the six-carriage train to work on the third and fourth.

Said Ms Boey: "As part of SMRT's rigorous testing process for all new trains, we conduct comprehensive stress tests to ensure all train components are rail-worthy."

The spokesman for LTA said trains introduced into the MRT network are tested both overseas and locally before they are put into service.

She reiterated that the incident did not impact normal train operations and said the LTA will investigate the incident.

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SINGAPORE - We thank Mr Adam Tan for his letter ("Puzzled by MRT rules"; Wednesday).

The Rapid Transit Systems Act provides for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and its authorised agents to plan, construct, operate and maintain the rapid transit systems. As such, the provisions of the Rapid Transit Systems Regulations should be read in context to understand their intent.

For example, the regulation on "no entry into a train when it is full" provides for an authorised person to direct passengers not to board a train if he determines that it is not safe for it to carry more people, and penalises non-compliance.

In this context, the regulation empowers the staff of public transport operators to regulate passenger activities, and ensure that the MRT continues to operate in a safe and efficient manner for the commuting public.

This is used only when the situation warrants it, and no commuter has been fined for entering a crowded train.

Similarly, the regulation stating that items should not be passed between the paid and unpaid areas is intended to prevent the MRT from being used for trade or business purposes.

As the primary purpose of the MRT is that of a people mover, it is important to minimise the use of the system for the delivery of goods, which would impede commuter movement and add to crowding.

As part of regular reviews, the LTA is currently working with the public transport operators to review our approach towards violations under the Rapid Transit Systems Regulations, so as to better take into account the severity of the breach in relation to the impact it could have on the safe and reliable operation of the rail system.

Helen Lim (Ms)

Director, Media Relations

Land Transport Authority

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The good news is that the MRT North-South Line extension will open this year.

The not-so-good news is that visitors to the Marina Bay Cruise Centre are in for quite a walk if they take the train.

The extension was supposed to serve the cruise centre - which is expected to see 530,000 pass through its gates this year - as well as future developments in the area.

But the train station is sited next to the Marina South Pier, where ferries to the southern islands ply, and is at least 600m from the cruise centre. That means a seven- to 10-minute walk.

A spokesman for SATS-Creuers Cruise Services, which operates the cruise centre, was sanguine when asked for comments.

"Cruise passengers will be able to take a scenic and convenient stroll to the new train station under a sheltered walkway," she said.

Community liaison officer Steffie Tan, 29, said she would not mind having to haul her luggage over the distance when heading for a cruise: "I will probably take the train and pull the luggage... Hailing a cab is unnecessary unless I am running late."

But retiree Sia Cheong Yew, 70, said he will probably need to get a taxi.

"I guess the younger people would have no problem if they have reasonable-sized bags," the regular cruise customer said.

Besides saying that it will build covered walkways to link the station and cruise centre, the Land Transport Authority would not comment further.

But the Urban Redevelopment Authority tried to explain why the MRT station could not be nearer the cruise centre.

Its spokesman said the MRT station was built below the Marina South Drive road, "so that it does not constrain the development of any of the future land parcels".

He added that the location of the station was also dictated by the maximum allowable curvature of MRT tracks, as well as the other infrastructures in the area, such as the Marina Coastal Expressway.

In that case, observers believe the station could have been sited in between the cruise centre and pier, which would mean a 300m walk to either facility. Alternatively, the extension could have gone west before looping east to pass the cruise centre and then onwards to the pier.

That way, the extension would also serve the future developments - which will include land relamation west of the cruise centre - that will come after the port is moved.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng also wondered if more could have been done at the planning stage to better integrate the MRT line with existing and future developments.

"It is unrealistic to expect visitors to walk under the covered walkway for 600m with their belongings to reach the MRT station even if there are trees, flowers, breeze, whatever along the way.

"Can we imagine that we did the same for Changi Airport?"

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No one knows how the elderly man got on the MRT tracks near Expo station last Saturday.

Tragedy was averted when the driver of a train approaching Expo spotted the man, in his 70s, and managed to brake in time.

But question marks remain. How did the man get there? What was he doing?

The mystery deepened after the man's son told Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao yesterday that his father, Mr Koh Chai Seng, did not have an ez-link card on him.

BADLY INJURED

There are also question marks over the extent of the elder Mr Koh's injuries.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman said Mr Koh had multiple injuries on his body and was taken unconscious to Changi General Hospital.

An SMRT statement on Saturday said the train driver had spotted a man lying close to the tracks between Tanah Merah and Expo stations, applied the emergency brakes immediately and stopped the train.

"The man, who was conscious, was duly moved to safety."

The statement added: "SMRT is working with the police and SCDF to investigate the matter."

A police spokesman said they received a call at 1.43pm on Saturday asking for assistance.

When they arrived, officers found a man "lying on the outer side of the tracks" near Expo MRT. He had head injuries.

The New Paper understands Mr Koh also suffered hip and wrist fractures.

He is still in intensive care and his condition is stable.

When TNP visited him last night, Mr Koh was hooked up to various tubes.

WHY WAS HE ON TRAIN TRACKS?

On Saturday, a cleaner at Expo station had spotted Mr Koh walking aimlessly on the platform.

A witness, who declined to be named, told Wanbao: "(The cleaner said) he would sometimes walk from the (platform) seats to the edge of the platform to take a look, before returning to the seat again."

The witness reportedly said that Mr Koh kept quiet when the cleaner tried to talk to him.

About 20 minutes later, when the cleaner returned to the platform, Mr Koh was already on the tracks.

It was unclear how he had managed to climb over the barriers.

TNP understands Mr Koh had walked for about three minutes on the tracks before the train arrived.

Commuters told Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News that the train stopped before it reached Expo station. The driver said a man was on the tracks.

A woman in her 40s told Shin Min: "The driver made an announcement asking passengers to remain calm. He said the train would be delayed by about 10 minutes."

Mr Koh's 47-year-old son told Wanbao the family was worried after his father left their Bedok home on Friday morning and did not return that night.

The family did not make a police report because they thought they had to wait 48 hours.

"Little did we expect the police to call us on (Saturday) afternoon," Mr Koh's son said.

He said his father has dementia and has gone missing on more than 10 occasions.

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A video taken by a woman in a stalled MRT train went viral yesterday, getting posted on the Facebook pages of news commentary sites The Real Singapore and All Singapore Stuff.

In the two-minute video, an SMRT announcer was heard asking on-board commuters multiple times if anyone had a pair of scissors.

Said the female announcer: "Attention all passengers, any passengers on the train, if you have a pair of scissors, can you kindly activate the emergency call button?"

The woman passenger originally uploaded the video on Saturday to her Facebook profile.

According to her, as stated in the video's description, the train was stalled for almost 45 minutes between the Tanah Merah and Changi Airport MRT stations. It was not clear how close it was toExpo Station, which is between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport MRT stations.

She also complained that there was no air-conditioning when the train was stalled, and that it was stuffy. There were several other passengers in the train carriage with her.

Her video has since garnered about 370 shares and 90 likes as of 11pm yesterday.

The same video on The Real Singapore and All Singapore Stuff saw close to 800 shares and 200 comments at 11pm.

Not as bad

Not everyone agreed with her, though.

One netizen said she was on the same train, and that things were not as bad as the woman made them out to be.

She wrote: "The power was shut down only for a while and there was air-con after that."

She also praised the train captain for handling whatever the problem was in a professional manner.

"Didn't you see him running from one end to the other a couple of times, with stains on his uniform?" she asked.

Regarding the incident, an SMRT spokesman could only say that it was related to another incident that happened on the same day.

That incident, which TNP reported on Monday, involved a man in his 70s, who was found unconscious at about 1.40pm on the elevated train tracks near Expo MRT station on Saturday.

While the police confirmed that the incidents were related, they could not comment further.

Netizens who saw the video had speculated that the scissors were to be used to help save the man on the tracks.

Facebook user Zulraihan Kazuki wrote on All Singapore Stuff: "The train operator wanted a pair of scissors to cut the clothing of the old man."

The elderly man was reported to have suffered head injuries, and hip and wrist fractures. He was later taken to Changi General Hospital.

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SMRT thanks Mr Goh Yang Miang for his letter ("Train disruptions: Human error, equipment failure not root causes"; Monday).

We agree that a systematic approach to address track and train faults is needed to ensure the safety and reliability of the MRT system.

We do have a system of procedural checks, engineering controls and periodic audits in place, but we acknowledge that improvements can be made.

Each investigation we conduct looks into the root causes, a number of which have been carefully listed in Mr Goh's letter.

We assure him that beyond these investigations, we make it a priority to ensure that our systems and processes are robust enough to mitigate the risks of human error and equipment failure.

To mitigate the risk of human error in operations and maintenance, we intend to reinforce human factor training for all our staff.

We will also enhance staff engagement to bring about an open reporting culture among our workforce, and to better understand why errors are committed by staff.

To mitigate the risk of equipment failure, we have started moving our maintenance regime beyond corrective and preventive maintenance to include predictive maintenance.

We have implemented monitoring and tracking systems and processes to help identify potential technical issues before they cause service disruptions.

A traditional preventive maintenance regime relies on fixed inspection intervals to detect impending material failures.

With new sensor technology implemented on service trains, we can now collect data on track conditions and predict required maintenance interventions in a timelier manner.

We have installed some sensors on our tracks and trains to enable early detection of track and train faults. There has been some early success.

To guide us in our journey towards excellence in rail engineering, we will adopt the ISO 55001 standard to benchmark our technical competencies, engineering systems and processes in managing rail infrastructure and assets.

We have also recently formed a technical advisory panel, comprising local and international experts, to help us raise our operational performance standards.

Regardless of whether it is human error or equipment failure, the management in SMRT Trains accepts responsibility for incidents of service disruptions, and we are committed to delivering safe and reliable train services to all our commuters.

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our commuters while we work hard to nurse our rail network back to good health.

Lee Ling Wee

Executive Vice-President,

SMRT Trains

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We often read in the news about people who go down to the train tracks illegally and get themselves injured or run over by oncoming trains.

To prevent such incidents, the authorities could install electronic sensors on the existing 1.5m wall panels next to the tracks at all stations.

When an intruder tries to climb over the wall, the sensors would immediately raise an alarm, alerting the security personnel and the station master.

Commuters at the station could also help to stop the intruder.

Such precautionary measures could save lives and prevent the disruption of train services.

Mak Seck Hong

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SINGAPORE - The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded three civil contracts, T211, T221 and T226 with a total value of around $1.09 billion.

Contract T211, for the design and construction of Sin Ming station and its associated tunnels, has been awarded to Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd. at a contract sum of $454 million.

Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd is an established contractor in Japan who has completed several infrastructure and building projects in Japan and overseas, including Singapore.

They were previously involved in the construction of East-West Line's Expo station and North-South Line's Yew Tee and Kranji stations.

Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd is currently involved in the construction of Downtown Line 3's Bendemeer station and Thomson Line's Woodlands North station.

Sin Ming station will also serve as a Civil Defence shelter along the Thomson Line.

The construction of Havelock station (Contract T221) has been awarded to Gammon Construction Limited Singapore Branch at a contract sum of $210 million.

Gammon Construction Limited Singapore Branch is an established contractor in Hong Kong that has completed several infrastructure and building projects in Hong Kong and overseas, including Singapore.

They were previously involved in the construction of Downtown Line 1's Chinatown station.

Gammon Construction Limited Singapore Branch is currently involved in the construction of Thomson Line's Mayflower station.

Contract T226 for the construction of Marina Bay station and its associated tunnels has been awarded to Taisei Corporation at a contract sum of $425 million.

Taisei Corporation is an established contractor in Japan that has also completed several infrastructure and building projects in Japan and overseas, including Singapore.

They were previously involved in the construction of Circle Line 3's Marymount station as well as Circle Line 4's Caldecott, Botanic Gardens and Farrer Road stations. Taisei Corporation has recently completed the construction of Downtown Line 1's Downtown station.

Marina Bay station will become an interchange station connecting three rail lines, linking the current North-South and Circle Lines with the future Thomson Line, bringing further convenience and connectivity to commuters working and residing in along Thomson Road and in the Marina Bay precinct.

Construction works for the these civil contracts are expected to start by the first quarter of 2014.

Sin Ming station is scheduled to be completed in 2020 while Havelock and Marina Bay stations are scheduled to be completed in 2021.

spanaech@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE - The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded three civil contracts, T211, T221 and T226 with a total value of around $1.09 billion.

Contract T211, for the design and construction of Sin Ming station and its associated tunnels, has been awarded to Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd. at a contract sum of $454 million.

Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd is an established contractor in Japan who has completed several infrastructure and building projects in Japan and overseas, including Singapore.

While rail operators face much stiffer fines for disruptions now, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will consider imposing the maximum penalty only for "the most serious of incidents".

Its spokesman said these could involve safety breaches or multiple violations of service standards and regulations. For instance, the LTA has imposed the previous maximum fine of $1 million twice - for the massive North-South Line disruptions on Dec 15 and Dec 17 of 2011, which crippled the network for five and seven hours respectively and affected 221,000 commuters in total.

On Monday, Parliament raised the penalty cap for each incident to 10 per cent of the annual fare revenue of the affected line or $1 million, whichever is higher.

Based on SMRT's fare revenue for its 2013 financial year, the maximum penalty for a disruption on the North-South or East-West line could be about $49 million.

The spokesman said the LTA will look into the facts of each rail incident, how severe the breaches were, and if other licensing conditions were violated when deciding the size of a fine.

It will also consider aggravating or mitigating factors such as whether the operator had full control of the incident, how it managed the breakdown and its service recovery, she added.

Dr Park Byung Joon, head of the urban transport management programme at SIM University, said the previous cap would not have any critical impact on the financials of SMRT or SBS Transit.

The new cap, however, sends a clear message that the Government will not just issue an "institutional reminder" if the operators fail to perform. "The maximum fine now can put the operators in an instant financial crisis - 10 per cent of annual fare revenue is a huge amount," he said.

The fines however should not be so high as to put the operators out of business, he added. Hence the decision on how much to fine must be carefully made on a case-by-case basis.

In response to the heavier penalties, SMRT and SBS Transit said they remain committed to improving the reliability of their train services.

The legislation passed on Monday also gave the LTA power to beef up the boards of both public transport operators, if needed.

The LTA spokesman said that there are "no current plans to invoke this provision".

Meanwhile, the authority has awarded $1.09 billion in contracts to a trio of firms from Japan and Hong Kong to build the Sin Ming, Havelock and Marina Bay stations on the Thomson Line.

Construction work is expected to start by the first quarter of this year. Sin Ming station will be completed in 2020, and Havelock and Marina Bay stations will be ready a year later, in 2021.

The biggest contract, to build Sin Ming station and its tunnels for $454 million, went to Japan's Penta-Ocean Construction. Another Japanese contractor, Taisei Corporation, won the $425 million deal to build Marina Bay station, while Hong Kong firm Gammon Construction Limited Singapore Branch clinched the $210 million contract for Havelock.

All three companies have won previous tenders. Penta-Ocean, for instance, was responsible for the already completed Expo and Kranji stations, while Gammon is currently building the Thomson Line's Mayflower station.

To date, the LTA has awarded 13 civil contracts worth $4.26 billion for the $18 billion, 22-station Thomson Line.

To be completed in three phases from 2019 to 2021, the 30km line runs from Woodlands in the north to Gardens by the Bay in the south, where it will connect to the future Eastern Region Line.

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SINGAPORE - A train fault occurred on the North-South Line on Monday morning.

Commuters will need an estimated 20 minutes additional travelling time from Jurong East to Kranji, said train operator SMRT on its Twitter feed at 7.23am.

Train operator SMRT said on its official Facebook page that there was a track circuit failure between Jurong East and Kranji stations, and its engineers had been sent to investigate and rectify the fault.

SMRT added that the fault caused the train platforms on Yishun, Sembawang and Khatib stations to be crowded.

Free bus bridging services have been activated for Admiralty, Sembawang, Yishun and Khatib MRT stations.

In its latest Twitter update, SMRT said that train services from Jurong East towards Kranji station were restored at about 9am.

Commuters took to Twitter to voice their displeasure over the delay. One commuter told AsiaOne that the train she was on took half an hour to travel between Jurong East station and Choa Chu Kang station, which is only three stops away.

Updates from SMRT:

9:33am: [NSL] UPDATE: Free bus service between #Admiralty and #AngMoKio has ceased.

9:00am: [NSL] CLEARED: Train services from #JurongEast towards #Kranji are now operating normally.Free buses are still available.

8:46am: [NSL]UPDATE: Estimate 10 mins additional travelling time from #JurongEast to #Kranji towards MarinaBay due to track fault.

8:30am: [NSL] UPDATE: Free buses are now available at affected stations between #Admiralty and #AngMoKio.

8:07am: [NSL] UPDATE: Free buses are now available at affected stations between #Admiralty and #Khatib.

7:23am: [NSL]UPDATE: Estimate 20 mins additional travelling time from #JurongEast to #Kranji towards MarinaBay due to track fault.

7:02am: [NSL]: Estimate 10 mins additional travelling time from #ChoaChuKang to #Kranji towards MarinaBay due to track fault.

yamadak@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE - A train fault occurred on the North-South Line on Monday morning.

Commuters will need an estimated 20 minutes additional travelling time from Jurong East to Kranji, said train operator SMRT on its Twitter feed at 7.23am.

Train operator SMRT said on its official Facebook page that there was a track circuit failure between Jurong East and Kranji stations, and its engineers had been sent to investigate and rectify the fault.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) called for a tender yesterday to assess the environmental impact of a future MRT line on the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

The findings of the report, which is targeted to be completed in 2016, will help the Government decide on the route for the 50km Cross Island Line (CRL), of which a section will be located in the vicinity of the reserve.

Tender documents show two "indicative corridors" to be studied: one passing through the gazetted reserve; and the other skirting it, along the fringe of Bukit Brown and the nature reserve. Both are expected to run underground.

Announced in January last year, the CRL will connect Jurong and Changi, and is targeted for completion by 2030.

Besides the environmental assessment, the Government will consider factors including connectivity, travel times, costs and land-use compatibility in deciding the route, LTA said.

Physical activities within the nature reserve, such as soil investigation works, will be conducted only after the appointed consultant has provided guidelines and recommendations.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo said yesterday that, while environmental assessments have been conducted for major maritime projects, a study of this scale is new for rail development.

Mrs Teo added that it will be a few years before the route can be finalised and construction can begin.

Included with the tender documents issued yesterday was a 125-page report put together by an environmental working group.

The report details the rich flora and fauna in the MacRitchie zone, collated from 20 years of surveys and studies. The area is home to over 400 species of plants, more than 200 species of birds and over 170 butterfly species, among others.

Mr Subaraj Rajathurai, one of the working group's members, hopes the group's involvement will continue and that the consultants will seek its expertise when necessary.

"(The area) is a very special thing. If you go around the world...you won't find any cities with a rainforest, with original forests, right in the middle," said the director of Strix Wildlife Consultancy.

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SINGAPORE - Train services on the North-South Line from Ang Mo Kio towards Marina Bay are now operating without delays, reported SMRT on their Twitter feed.

At 9.52pm this evening, SMRT first announced that commuters will be expecting an estimated 15 minutes additional waiting time due to a track fault from Ang Mo Kio to Marina Bay stations.

It kept its Twitter followers updated with the changes in estimated waiting times, before finally announcing the resumption of train services at 10.22pm.

Its tweet read: "Train services from #AngMoKio towards #MarinaBay are now operating normally." at 10.22pm.

Train services were also disrupted earlier this week along the North-South Line towards Marina Bay station. The delays were also due to track faults, said SMRT.

wjeanne@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE - The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed new reserved seat designs in the Downtown Line 1(DTL1) trains to encourage commuters to give up their seats to others who may need them more than they do.

The reserved seat designs are one of three new initiatives for the DTL1 to improve the commuting experience. Other initiatives include adding new queue lines and playing ambient music at the stations.

All three ideas came from commuters in a study of more than 1,000 commuters conducted by LTA and the Singapore Kindness Movement between Feb and July 2013.

LTA also invited commuters to vote for their favourite seat design via SMS and Facebook. A total of 2,168 votes were cast during the 6-week voting period, with the most popular design receiving about 33 per cent of the votes.

Ms Tammie Loke, Group Director, Corporate Communications said: "We were pleasantly surprised to see how evenly distributed the voting was, telling us the voters like all four designs. In fact, many commuters said they would like all four designs to be installed. And so we are happy to use all four designs."

Based on a straw poll conducted in Feb 2014, eight in ten felt that the new designs were effective in reminding commuters to give up their seats.

All four designs will be installed in existing DTL trains by end March 2014, and in future DTL trains.

LTA will also continue to monitor the effectiveness of the new reserved seats designs, as well as the other two initiatives on DTL1 for a year, before deciding if they should be introduced to other MRT lines.

The Government will hire a consultant to study two possible corridors for the Cross Island Line to span Singapore's largest nature reserve.

One cuts directly across the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, the other skirts south of it.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) Monday called a tender to study, among other things, the potential environmental impact of the train line being built in either.

In a statement, it said it expects to hire a consultant by the second half of this year and complete the study in 2016.

The findings, along with other factors such as cost, travel times and land use considerations, will help the Government decide the line's alignment, it said.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo said in a Facebook post on Monday that an environmental impact study of such a scale was new for rail development in Singapore.

"But it is necessary because the reserve is special," she said, adding that there will be no soil surveys or physical works in the reserve until the consultant gives its input.

The 50km line linking Jurong to Changi was announced in January last year and is expected to be completed by 2030.

Nature groups were dismayed that a section of the line was apparently slated to cut through the reserve. They said it would harm flora and fauna there.

The Government said later that the route had not been finalised.

The Nature Society (Singapore) proposed two detours north and south of the reserve.

It estimated that the southern option along Lornie Road would add just 2km and four minutes to travel time, but nearby residents were worried that it could affect their homes.

LTA chief executive Chew Hock Yong said the authority has worked with residents and nature groups over the past eight months to address their concerns. "This study is only one of the inputs that will be considered before an eventual decision is made," he added.

Among other things, the consultant will carry out a "baseline evaluation" of the existing ecosystem and physical conditions along the two proposed corridors.

This work will be aided by an existing 120-page report setting out some 400 tree species, 400 insect species, 200 bird species and 150 mammal and amphibian species in the reserve.

Nature Society (Singapore) spokesman Tony O'Dempsey, who was involved in the report, said that it was not comprehensive and that the consultant should "document every single thing" in the areas that could be affected by the train line.

The LTA said on Monday it will start a separate engineering feasibility study for the Cross Island Line by the second half of this year for stretches outside the reserve. This is also expected to be completed in 2016.

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