The signalling issues behind recent MRT delays will continue to pop up occasionally over the next two years at least, which is the minimum time it would take to overhaul the system, said SMRT.

This year, the rail operator has been hit by at least three instances of faulty signalling on the North-South Line, leading to trains slowing down significantly. One occurred at the end of last month, and was followed by two more on Monday and Tuesday.

SMRT spokesman Alina Boey yesterday said a programme to upgrade the signalling system will "address many of the signalling-related incidents that we are facing today".

But the upgrade, which will allow trains to run more frequently, will be completed only in 2016 for the North-South Line and 2018 for the East-West Line.

Signalling faults accounted for nearly a quarter of the SMRT trains pulled out of service last year on these two lines.

On Monday morning, a track circuit failure between Yew Tee and Kranji stations caused trains to slow down. This held up service on stretches of the line on either side of those stations, resulting in thousands of commuters being late for work and school.

The next evening, a code generator fault along the track at Marina Bay station added about 20 minutes of travelling time for commuters going from Ang Mo Kio towards Marina Bay.

Code generators tell trains how fast they can travel. Tuesday's problem meant trains on the affected stretch had to run at slower speeds while SMRT engineers replaced the generator, said Ms Boey.

SMRT is working on interim measures to minimise such incidents even as upgrading works take place, she added.

These include refurbishing train tachogenerators, which indicate how fast a train is going. Faulty tachogenerators provide inaccurate speed readings to the signalling systems, and can cause signalling issues.

SMRT has previously said that such measures would also take about two years to roll out.

Ms Boey added yesterday: "Despite our best efforts, there will still be delays, as it takes time for us to implement these enhancements over the more than a thousand track circuits on the North-South and East-West lines."

Adjunct associate professor Gopinath Menon of Nanyang Technological University pointed out that rail operators have short windows to work on upgrading overnight, when trains are offline.

He also highlighted how the network is still not extensive enough for commuters to hop onto another line when disruptions happen, although this will change in the future. For instance, the Downtown Line will provide another east-west option when completed in 2017.

"Once the network grows, there will be less effect when something breaks down," said Prof Menon.

SINGAPORE - Want to know at a glance which train lines are running smoothly?

New information boards - using emoticons to show the status of train lines - have already started making an appearance at some MRT stations here.

Commuters will be greeted with a yellow smiley-face emoticon when services are running smoothly, a neutral expression for delays and a sad face for disruptions.

In the event of a train disruption, a flashing red light will appear at the top of the panel, along with a service-disruption message.

An estimated time before normal service resumes, as well as the availability of free bus-bridging services at affected stations, will also be shown.

Such "iDisplay" panels are already in operation at 13 stations on the North-South and East-West lines, including Raffles Place, Outram Park, Jurong East and Buona Vista.

They will be rolled out by SMRT at a total of 17 stations - including Tanah Merah, Marina Bay, Tampines and Boon Lay stations - by the end of this month.

Trials started at Bedok Station two years ago, said SMRT's director for media marketing and communication, Ms Alina Boey.

The displays will be linked to SMRT's main command centre.

The installation of the panels comes after a spate of train delays and disruptions on SMRT's network since the start of the year.

A major delay occurred as recently as last Monday, when a "track circuit failure" on the North-South Line caused commuters to be late by up to 50 minutes.

Mr Kelvin Foo, director of transport consultancy TTS Group, said iDisplay will give commuters advance information to make alternative travel plans if needed.

"The public transport network is quite extensive now, and there's more than one (way) to get to a destination should there be a disruption," Mr Foo said, adding that the effectiveness of the panels hinges on the reliability of the information provided and whether commuters take notice of them.

Corporate communications officer Raymond Poon, 33, said the panels are a "good idea", but he was unsure about the emoticons.

He said: "It may be better to have only the smiley face and ditch the rest. Putting up an angry face when people are already feeling irritated during a breakdown...it seems frivolous and people may get the impression that the situation is being trivialised."

adrianl@sph.com.sg

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During Monday's morning rush hour, there were slight delays on the MRT rail network.

Two separate trains on the East-West Line encountered train and door faults respectively.

This caused trains in both directions to travel at reduced speeds.

Passengers were advised by SMRT to expect delays of up to 15 minutes.

Though both faults were rectified by about 9am, station platforms remained congested, The Straits Times Online reported SMRT as saying on its Twitter page.

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Tackling disruptions during the morning peak hour should be a priority for the two train operators, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Tuesday.

He said incidents during peak hours need to be reduced, as these cause the greatest inconvenience to the most commuters.

To do that, both SMRT and SBS Transit need to ramp up maintenance works at night and conduct more stringent checks on the condition of trains before launching them into service, said the minister.

But he also acknowledged that both firms have invested more money in maintenance, and are adopting a more predictive approach to detect and prevent problems from occurring.

Mr Lui was responding to five MPs who raised the issue of reliability, after a spate of delays that hit the rail network this year, several of which happened during the morning rush hour.

Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport chair Cedric Foo (Pioneer) said there were 10 incidents in the first three months of this year on various lines.

"Although nowhere as severe as the two major service disruptions in December 2011, the increased frequency of train disruptions has further diminished the commuter's confidence in the public transport system," he said.

Mr Lui said this year's incidents are a stark reminder that improving reliability is "a lengthy and painstaking journey".

Still, he noted that withdrawal rates have fallen by at least 25 per cent for the North-South, East- West, North East and Circle lines.

The overall trend of fewer trains being pulled out of service shows a move in the right direction, he said, adding that the goal is to bring the withdrawal rate below that of 2008 by 2016.

With tighter operating performance standards in effect since January, operators are also now accountable for short delays even if they do not lead to service disruptions, he said.

Mr Lui also took issue with a Straits Times report which alleged that the MRT system was less reliable than the New York City subway.

This was inaccurate, he said, as train reliability in the American city was measured in car-kilometres whereas Singapore uses train-kilometres.

As for capacity, new trains due this year and next year will allow the operators to improve frequency so commuters need not wait more than five minutes for a train, said Mr Lui.

Meanwhile, the Punggol West LRT loop will open in the middle of this year, with more rail lines to open in the coming years.

Mr Lui said: "As these new lines open, I think... crowdedness on certain existing stretches of the network should improve."

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The article ("Reliability of MRT key to having fewer cars on roads"; Feb 13) alleged that Singapore's MRT system is less reliable than the New York City Subway, through a comparison that our MRT had one breakdown every 120,000km while New York's had one every 260,000km.

This is incorrect and unfortunately was repeated in the commentary ("Public transport: No. 1 in the world?"; last Saturday).

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority measures train reliability using car-kilometres whereas Singapore uses train-kilometres.

On Singapore's six- and three-car systems, one train-km is equivalent to six car-km and three car-km respectively.

If our six-car train encounters a fault after 100,000km, it would be reflected in our statistics as having failed once after 100,000 train-km.

However, if we convert this to car-km, the six-car train would have experienced a fault after 600,000 car-km.

Similarly, for a three-car train that encounters a fault after 100,000 train-km, it would be reflected as having failed after 300,000 car-km.

Hence, comparing like with like, Singapore's rail reliability would be more, not less, reliable than New York's by a considerable margin.

Our MRT network experienced one delay longer than five minutes for every 456,000 car-km operated last year, compared with New York's one in 247,000 car-km.

Notwithstanding this, we acknowledge that there is work to be done to improve our rail network reliability. SMRT and SBS Transit have ramped up their engineering capabilities and processes, hired more engineers and significantly increased investment in maintenance.

The Land Transport Authority is also working with the two operators to strengthen their maintenance regimes to actively monitor the condition of their assets, predict where problems are most likely to occur, and take pre-emptive steps where required.

Helen Lim (Ms)

Director, Media Relations

Land Transport Authority

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On Dec 28 last year, Miss Jacqueline Wong and her boyfriend, Mr Jonathan See, took a day off work to take the train.

It was no ordinary ride, but one that lasted all of 16 hours that day.

Starting at 6am from Joo Koon station, the couple made stops at all 146 MRT and LRT stations across Singapore.

At each stop, they got off the train and took a selfie.

That "extremely tiring" day was documented by Miss Wong, 25, in her blog. The post, titled Many Selfies, went on her blog on March 4 and has been making its rounds on social media sites.

"My friends said I must be mad. My sister was incredulous," the fun-loving blogger said, adding that she was inspired to do this after reading an online article of a couple who took 118 selfies at all the subway stations in Manhattan.

"I procrastinated a lot. It was only when I told my boyfriend about the challenge and he urged me to do it that it happened at all."

Miss Wong said she put off the idea for a few months after she read the article.

The couple spent only about an hour planning their route.

They managed to avoid the Central Business District's lunch crowds and also got free rides along the Downtown Line from Chinatown station to Downtown station.

In all, they spent less than $10 each on train fare.

Along the way, they took creative selfies to fit in with the name of the MRT station.

For example, at Pending station, Miss Wong looks annoyed as she checks her watch while Mr See, 26, looks irritated in the background.

At Buangkok station, the couple took a head-butting picture.

RUSH

"After every shot, we had to rush back into the train before it closed its doors," said Miss Wong.

"We entered another cabin after taking our selfie so the passengers wouldn't stare at us.

"It was very hectic. Once, Jonathan missed the train and I had to wait for him at the next stop."

The couple narrowly missed the train at Ten Mile Junction as well.

There, trains come only once every 20 minutes - something the couple learnt on that day.

Said Miss Wong: "We talked for the most part of the journey. It was like a typical date where we usually spend hours just talking.

"We spent our first date chatting non-stop for 12 hours."

They covered 118 subway stations in Manhattan

The couple who inspired Miss Jacqueline Wong and her boyfriend, Mr Jonathan See, to take selfies are college students James Doernberg and Kai Jordan.

They took nine hours to cover all 118 stations in Manhattan in New York City last year. They took 130 shots in total.

The couple told the Gothamist website how they came up with the idea.

Mr Doernberg, who is not from New York City, said: "The idea just came to me a few months ago. I was probably thinking about ways to make commuting fun/useful, or different records/accomplishments that I could do while in NYC.

"I mentioned the idea to Kai a few days ago and she latched onto it and thought it sounded really fun. And it was - the nine hours flew by.

"I planned the route out as we went and I was really worried that an inefficient route would take too long or stretch into two days. But everything fell into place pretty well."

Mr Doernberg said it was quite a challenge. They had to jump off the train, take the selfie and get back in before the doors closed.

When asked if they intended to take selfies at other subway networks, they said they were not sure but would discuss it.

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These days, there's one item I must have every time I ride the MRT: my earphones.

The music transports me to another world where I'm not in a crowded carriage, and where I'm not standing in the slightest sliver of space between two other strangers.

Thousands of others aren't happy with this new norm either, going by the latest commuter satisfaction survey results released last Tuesday.

Overall satisfaction with Singapore's public transport fell to 88.5 per cent last year, down by 0.3 percentage point from the year before.

This was the lowest since the survey began in 2006.

People were particularly dissatisfied with the waiting time, reliability and service of MRT trains. Satisfaction with the rail service dropped from 92.1 per cent in 2012 to 88.9 per cent last year.

Yet at the same time, the authorities have been going full steam ahead to fix the flaws in public transport, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew. Last Tuesday in Parliament, he gave an update on what has been done so far.

To increase rail capacity, 13 new trains are being added to the North-South and East-West lines this year. Four have already begun running.

To make trains more reliable, SMRT spent 65 per cent more on repair and maintenance in the past two years, while SBS Transit spent 35 per cent more.

The maximum penalty for poor service performance was also raised last month.

There have been some results: Trains were pulled out of service due to faults 25 per cent less frequently last year.

But this isn't translating into more happy commuters because the reality on the ground is very different.

My initial grudging acknowledgement of the Government's efforts vanished when I recalled the MRT trains I have boarded on weekends.

Two words: It's awful.

A crowded train makes misanthropes out of most people, let alone a train that's part of a system suffering unprecedented breakdowns.

So, excuse us beleaguered commuters if we remain unconvinced by the authorities.

First, every time a train breakdown happens, it inconveniences the commuter.

This experience speaks a thousand words, and louder, than policy announcements.

Also, even though the majority of commuters are not affected by disruptions as rail reliability is close to 99.95 per cent, news of it is jarring to other commuters.

These are what stick in our memory, not rides during which the MRT didn't break down. And only visible, sweeping improvements can change minds about the state of affairs.

But this will not be immediate because new trains take time to be delivered and new rail networks take time to be built.

Nine more new trains for the North-South and East-West lines will arrive and be put into service between now and the end of this year.

From next year, 42 new trains will be added to the North East and Circle lines. These will hopefully help with crowdedness and waiting times but not right away.

The five new rail lines to be built will also double Singapore's rail network to 360km - but this will happen only by 2030, not overnight.

Mr Lui himself said as much last Tuesday, calling the improvement works "a lengthy and painstaking journey", though overall trends show that the ministry is moving in the right direction.

Until then, commuters should be aware that the infrastructure improvements will take time, and until then, there isn't much to do but bear with it.

But why must we now accept these crowded conditions as the new normal? It's reasonable to expect higher standards for a basic amenity like public transport.

Not many can switch to driving or taking cabs, or drastically alter schedules to catch trains that are not crowded. Not to mention that public transport has to be a palatable option if the Government wants fewer people to drive.

As it stands, the current system still isn't good enough. Breakdowns aside, the crowdedness during peak hours makes rides uncomfortable for all, save the lucky few who are able to get seats.

And until the train system turns the corner, I'm investing in a good pair of earphones.

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Writer Charlotte Ashton should have just asked when she needed help, say four undergraduates from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Miss Atheena Amira Samsuri, 22, says the British woman went overboard when she said Singapore has a massive compassion deficit. "It's a generalisation of a nation and completely untrue to say Singapore lacks compassion," she says.

Writer Charlotte Ashton should have just asked when she needed help, say four undergraduates from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Miss Atheena Amira Samsuri, 22, says the British woman went overboard when she said Singapore has a massive compassion deficit. "It's a generalisation of a nation and completely untrue to say Singapore lacks compassion," she says.

Her conviction stems from the results of social experiments her team conducted last month as part of their final-year project, The Ride Etiquette.

The others on the team are Miss Cynthia Soe Thiri Swe, 22; Miss Lim Woan, 23; and Miss Fadzeera Mohamad Fadzully, 22.

With the help of a pillow and some industrial tape, Miss Atheena posed as a pregnant woman taking the MRT train. To emphasise the "pregnancy" as she boarded the train, she stroked her belly and put her hands at her waist to support the "extra weight".

Eight out of 10 times, someone offered her a seat within seconds. And she did not need to ask.

An elderly man even got up and offered her the reserved seat, much to the embarrassment of the younger man beside him.

"The younger man looked like he wanted to offer his seat as well, but the older man had already done so. Throughout the rest of the ride, he was very awkward," says Miss Atheena.

Most of the time, it was the older generation who gave up their seats. In three instances, three people stood up at the same time and offered her their seats.

Their conclusion: Pregnant women don't need to worry about getting a seat.

What then of the experience of Ms Ashton when she was 10 weeks pregnant?

Worried she was going to faint on the MRT, the British woman "crouched to the floor" with her head in her hands and was "completely ignored, for the full 15 minutes it took to reach my station".

She shared her experience in a commentary published on the BBC website last week. It sparked discussions and prompted ministers to urge Singaporeans to reflect on what they can do to build a gracious society.

Miss Atheena, who takes public transport daily, says: "I think I know my country better. If you need help, just ask for it. Singaporeans may not look ready to help, but they will help.

"There are many incidents of people not giving up their seats. But there are many more incidents of people giving up their seats, just that no one talks about it."

She adds that the current trend is to focus on the negative rather than the positive.

That is why their project focuses on rewarding good behaviour rather than shaming those who do not respond.

Miss Soe expected just five out of 10 to offer a seat.

"It's a face-saving issue. People don't want to offer help and get rejected," says Miss Lim, adding that passengers may not have realised Ms Ashton was sick.

"When people don't know what's going on, they are less likely to offer help."

The team created posters. One reads: "It's not that we don't care, we just don't know. Please, tell us if you're pregnant."

The other posters feature perpetrators of the team's top five pet peeves, such as Pole-Dancing Pammy, Wide-Leg Wally and Funky Fred. (See images on facing page.)

Facebook user Sally Goh commented on the team's Facebook page: "Sometimes I just can't differentiate a pregnant woman at the early stage of pregnancy from one who is just bigger in size. I'm afraid I'd offend a woman if I give up my seat only to realise that she is not pregnant."

While it was the older generation who offered their seats, those in their 20s and 30s helped Miss Fadzeera retrieve her belongings in another social experiment.

She entered an MRT train on a weekday afternoon, heavily laden with papers and files. While standing in the middle of a carriage, she "tripped" and let her belongings fall across the floor.

Six out of 10 times, someone helped her to pick them up. But in one instance, two men in their 20s just sat in their seats and giggled at her plight.

In both experiments, commuters who responded positively were given stickers with the slogan "Thanks for not being a &#!$@%".

The group chose the topic of passenger courtesy because it is "where we want to see the most change".

"There are a lot of complaints online, and we feel it is a good time to address this problem," adds Miss Lim.

The posters were displayed at an art exhibition at The Substation last month.

Singapore Kindness Movement director-general William Wan said: "I like the posters. They are funny, creative, nonthreatening and make being kind and gracious fun."

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Events in recent years have underscored the need for Singapore to ramp up its transport infrastructure, as well as to rejuvenate what has already been built.

Overcrowded trains and buses, long and unpredictable waiting times, and glitches in the rail system have been top grouses since as early as 2004.

It did not help that Singapore's population grew by more than 30 per cent in the last decade to hit 5.4 million last year. Public transport ridership soared by more than 50 per cent over the same period to 6.36 million trips a day.

Meanwhile, two major rail breakdowns in December 2011 brought into sharp focus the need for infrastructural upkeep on the back of fast-rising usage demand.

The Government has responded fairly swiftly. But experts say a sustainable solution to managing public transport demand also needs measures such as increasing flexi-work arrangements, telecommuting or decentralised office hubs.

On the capacity front, the Government is setting aside an estimated $2 billion to replace ageing parts in all the major rail lines together with rail operators.

It is also in the process of rolling out a bus service enhancement programme - likely to cost in excess of $1.1 billion - which will boost fleet size by 20 per cent.

And in January last year, it announced a slew of new lines that will grow Singapore's rail network to 360km - double its current length. This is on top of $60 billion of investments in place for ongoing projects such as the Downtown and Thomson lines.

In all, transport-related projects may cost more than $150 billion. This is more than 40 per cent of Singapore's total foreign reserves last year, and seven times the 20-year transport infrastructure spending envisioned by a White Paper released in 1996.

By any measure, it is a highly ambitious programme. The question is, will it be economically sustainable to go on ramping up capacity this way?

This is especially when capacity is often designed to cater to peak demand, which is usually less than two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. Hence such a network tends to be "underutilised" for the rest of the day. Average bus occupation, for instance, is only 20 per cent.

Transport experts have thus called for other measures such as promoting flexible working hours and telecommuting.

Attempts to stagger working hours were made back in the early 1970s to ease traffic congestion. But the campaign never did gain much traction.

According to a study published by the Manpower Ministry in 2001, flexi-time was practised by only 0.3 per cent of all private-sector employees.

Telecommuting was even more uncommon, with a participation rate of merely 0.1 per cent. And those who work entirely from home accounted for just 0.01 per cent of employees.

While more current figures are not readily available, there are signs that flexi-time is still not widely accepted.

Last June, the Transport Ministry launched a year-long free-tra-vel initiative to encourage commuters to travel just before the morning peak, following a Travel Smart initiative rolled out in October 2012 to persuade people to shift their peak-hour travel time by 15 minutes.

Response was encouraging initially, with around 9 per cent of peak-hour commuters travelling earlier. But this has since fallen to 6 to 7 per cent.

Certainly, the scheme has potential for improvement - perhaps even without additional tax spending (the year-long free tra-vel initiative costs $10 million).

In 2004, a study by the UK Strategic Rail Authority found that train overcrowding can be eased substantially by widening the differential between peak and off-peak fares. This means giving off-peak fare discounts or wai-vers, as well as raising peak-pe-riod fares.

Not only does this help the operator maintain financial viability, but the shift of peak demand also reduces the financial burden of having to run additional trains during peak hour.

Analysts suggest the savings here would more than cover the cost of providing free fares.

However, adjunct Professor Paul Barter, who teaches transport policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, says there are limits to what flexi-time arrangements can do to flatten peak travel volumes.

This is because there is "dynamic tension" between two things that people want: a regular schedule that gives them fixed times at home or with friends, and more comfortable travel.

Because of this tension, people will modify travel patterns "even without the Government doing anything".

And if there is less overcrowding during the peak period because some commuters have altered their travelling time, others will move in to fill the space freed up.

Prof Barter, however, notes that flexi-time can contribute to shorter peaks, which range from "five to 10 minutes in Canberra to three to four hours in Jakarta".

Also, if people were free to adjust their travelling time, "they would complain less", he said. He feels that many employers in Singapore "are more rigid than they need to be" in this respect.

Indeed, a survey by the Land Transport Authority in 2012 found that the top reason for workers not telecommuting was that employers rarely allow it. And about 80 per cent of 1,500 people polled said they would take up flexi-work arrangements if these were made available.

Finally, experts say a decentralised city is key to improving accessibility without increasing mobility. Even though Singapore had a decentralisation strategy since the 1980s, it has not gained much traction - until now.

"There was a time when it was felt that having a big CBD (Central Business District) was good for the economy," recalls Prof Barter. "But I think it is better to have many sub-centres across the island."

Now, several sub-centres are in the works, including Jurong Lake District, Woodlands and the Kallang Riverside.

All these will allow more people to live near where they work, and work near where they play.

Meanwhile, cities the world over are increasingly looking to "soft" demand management measures to spread out peak loads on transport systems.

In 2008, Melbourne started offering free travel to commuters who arrive at the CBD before 7am. It led 23 per cent of commuters to travel out of peak hours.

Monetary measures are not the only way to temper peak demand. In the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, London embarked on a public education and awareness campaign to prepare for the foreseeable surge in travel demand.

The programme included reducing the need to travel, spacing out journeys, shifting to walking or cycling, as well as re-routing to less busy routes.

The result was encouraging.

Despite record ridership - London Underground, for instance, carried 4.52 million passengers on Aug 9, the highest in its history - the transport network coped well.

Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi has spelt out a transport mobility management strategy as it prepares for a possible trebling of its population by 2030. It includes park-and-ride, car-sharing, flexible working hours, and telecommuting plans.

All these are in place in Singapore, even if they lack scale.

But things may be changing.

Last year, the Urban Redevelopment Authority unveiled plans for a 700km cycling path network by 2030 - thrice the length of the current network.

And URA chief planner Lim Eng Hwee leads by example: He cycles to work.

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Late-night commuters aiming for the last train home will need to factor in earlier times at six North-South Line stations from next month.

SMRT is halting services 30 minutes earlier to speed up replacement track works.

The six stations are Ang Mo Kio, Yio Chu Kang, Khatib, Yishun, Sembawang and Admiralty.

The public transport operator will end train services at those stations at 12.30am on Sunday to Thursday nights, from April 15 till the end of October, except on the eve of public holidays.

The earlier closure means the last train to Jurong East will depart Marina Bay at 11.40pm, while the last train to Ang Mo Kio will leave Jurong East at 11.39pm.

This is the first time that SMRT has ended train services earlier for replacement works. Previously, it closed stretches of track on the Circle Line on Sundays for cable replacement.

SMRT said the early closures will allow it to deploy machinery more efficiently to speed up the replacement of 188,000 timber sleepers with concrete ones, which last about twice as long.

It noted that the extra time will also allow other major projects such as upgrading the signalling system and replacing the third rail to be carried out more quickly.

The operator seeks the "support, patience and understanding" of commuters for the early closures, which "will help enhance system reliability and offer smoother rides".

The six stations account for more than 30,000 sleepers - 20 per cent of all sleepers on the North-South and East-West lines, SMRT noted. As of last month, about 13 per cent along both lines have been replaced.

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I returned to work in the middle of October last year after a bilateral knee replacement.

For a few weeks after my return, I had to hobble around with the aid of a walking stick.

Many people have lamented the lack of social graces among Singaporeans, especially the younger generation, but my experiences during those weeks were positive.

Whenever I boarded a train, someone would offer a seat to me without my having to ask for it.

On one occasion, a young woman even apologised for not offering me a seat earlier because she had closed her eyes and was apparently resting. Another time, during a rainy evening, a young man even carried my bag up and down two flights of stairs when he saw me struggling with it.

Special mention must go to the SMRT service ambassadors at Jurong East station.

They not only ensured that I got to the head of the queue for boarding the train, but one of them even carried my bag into the train and ensured that I was properly seated before departing.

She is a real asset to her employer and deserves special commendation.

Freddy Neo

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I started using the MRT recently after I sold my car, and am not yet a seasoned commuter.

Recently, I was at Bishan station with my three sons.

I had entered the fare gate with two of my sons but the ez-link card of my third son, a seven-year-old, failed to work and we were separated.

Noticing my anxiety, at least five people stopped and offered advice.

One young man guided us to the passenger service counter and remained with us until the glitch was fixed.

The others moved on only after seeing that the problem was resolved.

It goes to show that courtesy and kindness are alive and well here.

My sincere thanks to the kind people, especially the outstanding young man.

Jaap Huigen

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Five contracts worth nearly $1.15 billion have been awarded for the upcoming Thomson Line (TSL) and Eastern Region Line (ERL).

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) selected American conglomerate GE to provide the signalling system and platform screen doors for both lines in a $159 million deal.

Singapore Technologies Electronics (STE) won a $124 million contract to provide the communications systems for both lines.

This includes various sub-systems such as video surveillance and travel information systems. STE is also involved in the Downtown Line and Tuas West Extension projects.

The 30km TSL will be ready in phases from 2019 to 2021. It will join the ERL at the Gardens by the Bay station.

Asked why the LTA bought ERL systems before announcing the detailed alignment, its spokesman said: "As the ERL will run as a single line together with the TSL when it is operational, LTA has aggregated the purchase of the electrical systems of both MRT lines to reap economies of scale."

Separately, the LTA also awarded three civil contracts for the Thomson Line.

A joint venture by RSEA Engineering Corporation, Eng Lee Engineering and Wai Fong Construction will build Mount Pleasant station and its tunnels for $207 million.

This station will serve as the fifth Civil Defence shelter along the Thomson Line, together with Woodlands, Lentor, Mayflower and Sin Ming stations.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co will build Stevens station and its tunnels for about $441 million. The firm has built numerous subways and high-speed railroad projects in South Korea.

The LTA also awarded a $222 million contract to construct Maxwell station to Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure, which is working on the Downtown Line's Gali Batu Depot.

Construction for all three stations will commence in the second quarter of this year and be completed by 2021.

To date, the LTA has awarded 18 civil contracts worth about a combined $5.3 billion for the Thomson Line.

roysim@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 22 in The Straits Times.

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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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The signalling issues behind recent MRT delays will continue to pop up occasionally over the next two years at least, which is the minimum time it would take to overhaul the system, said SMRT.

This year, the rail operator has been hit by at least three instances of faulty signalling on the North-South Line, leading to trains slowing down significantly. One occurred at the end of last month, and was followed by two more on Monday and Tuesday.

SMRT spokesman Alina Boey yesterday said a programme to upgrade the signalling system will "address many of the signalling-related incidents that we are facing today".

But the upgrade, which will allow trains to run more frequently, will be completed only in 2016 for the North-South Line and 2018 for the East-West Line.

Signalling faults accounted for nearly a quarter of the SMRT trains pulled out of service last year on these two lines.

On Monday morning, a track circuit failure between Yew Tee and Kranji stations caused trains to slow down. This held up service on stretches of the line on either side of those stations, resulting in thousands of commuters being late for work and school.

The next evening, a code generator fault along the track at Marina Bay station added about 20 minutes of travelling time for commuters going from Ang Mo Kio towards Marina Bay.

Code generators tell trains how fast they can travel. Tuesday's problem meant trains on the affected stretch had to run at slower speeds while SMRT engineers replaced the generator, said Ms Boey.

SMRT is working on interim measures to minimise such incidents even as upgrading works take place, she added.

These include refurbishing train tachogenerators, which indicate how fast a train is going. Faulty tachogenerators provide inaccurate speed readings to the signalling systems, and can cause signalling issues.

SMRT has previously said that such measures would also take about two years to roll out.

Ms Boey added yesterday: "Despite our best efforts, there will still be delays, as it takes time for us to implement these enhancements over the more than a thousand track circuits on the North-South and East-West lines."

Adjunct associate professor Gopinath Menon of Nanyang Technological University pointed out that rail operators have short windows to work on upgrading overnight, when trains are offline.

He also highlighted how the network is still not extensive enough for commuters to hop onto another line when disruptions happen, although this will change in the future. For instance, the Downtown Line will provide another east-west option when completed in 2017.

"Once the network grows, there will be less effect when something breaks down," said Prof Menon.

SINGAPORE - Want to know at a glance which train lines are running smoothly?

New information boards - using emoticons to show the status of train lines - have already started making an appearance at some MRT stations here.

Commuters will be greeted with a yellow smiley-face emoticon when services are running smoothly, a neutral expression for delays and a sad face for disruptions.

In the event of a train disruption, a flashing red light will appear at the top of the panel, along with a service-disruption message.

An estimated time before normal service resumes, as well as the availability of free bus-bridging services at affected stations, will also be shown.

Such "iDisplay" panels are already in operation at 13 stations on the North-South and East-West lines, including Raffles Place, Outram Park, Jurong East and Buona Vista.

They will be rolled out by SMRT at a total of 17 stations - including Tanah Merah, Marina Bay, Tampines and Boon Lay stations - by the end of this month.

Trials started at Bedok Station two years ago, said SMRT's director for media marketing and communication, Ms Alina Boey.

The displays will be linked to SMRT's main command centre.

The installation of the panels comes after a spate of train delays and disruptions on SMRT's network since the start of the year.

A major delay occurred as recently as last Monday, when a "track circuit failure" on the North-South Line caused commuters to be late by up to 50 minutes.

Mr Kelvin Foo, director of transport consultancy TTS Group, said iDisplay will give commuters advance information to make alternative travel plans if needed.

"The public transport network is quite extensive now, and there's more than one (way) to get to a destination should there be a disruption," Mr Foo said, adding that the effectiveness of the panels hinges on the reliability of the information provided and whether commuters take notice of them.

Corporate communications officer Raymond Poon, 33, said the panels are a "good idea", but he was unsure about the emoticons.

He said: "It may be better to have only the smiley face and ditch the rest. Putting up an angry face when people are already feeling irritated during a breakdown...it seems frivolous and people may get the impression that the situation is being trivialised."

adrianl@sph.com.sg

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During Monday's morning rush hour, there were slight delays on the MRT rail network.

Two separate trains on the East-West Line encountered train and door faults respectively.

This caused trains in both directions to travel at reduced speeds.

Passengers were advised by SMRT to expect delays of up to 15 minutes.

Though both faults were rectified by about 9am, station platforms remained congested, The Straits Times Online reported SMRT as saying on its Twitter page.

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Tackling disruptions during the morning peak hour should be a priority for the two train operators, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Tuesday.

He said incidents during peak hours need to be reduced, as these cause the greatest inconvenience to the most commuters.

To do that, both SMRT and SBS Transit need to ramp up maintenance works at night and conduct more stringent checks on the condition of trains before launching them into service, said the minister.

But he also acknowledged that both firms have invested more money in maintenance, and are adopting a more predictive approach to detect and prevent problems from occurring.

Mr Lui was responding to five MPs who raised the issue of reliability, after a spate of delays that hit the rail network this year, several of which happened during the morning rush hour.

Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport chair Cedric Foo (Pioneer) said there were 10 incidents in the first three months of this year on various lines.

"Although nowhere as severe as the two major service disruptions in December 2011, the increased frequency of train disruptions has further diminished the commuter's confidence in the public transport system," he said.

Mr Lui said this year's incidents are a stark reminder that improving reliability is "a lengthy and painstaking journey".

Still, he noted that withdrawal rates have fallen by at least 25 per cent for the North-South, East- West, North East and Circle lines.

The overall trend of fewer trains being pulled out of service shows a move in the right direction, he said, adding that the goal is to bring the withdrawal rate below that of 2008 by 2016.

With tighter operating performance standards in effect since January, operators are also now accountable for short delays even if they do not lead to service disruptions, he said.

Mr Lui also took issue with a Straits Times report which alleged that the MRT system was less reliable than the New York City subway.

This was inaccurate, he said, as train reliability in the American city was measured in car-kilometres whereas Singapore uses train-kilometres.

As for capacity, new trains due this year and next year will allow the operators to improve frequency so commuters need not wait more than five minutes for a train, said Mr Lui.

Meanwhile, the Punggol West LRT loop will open in the middle of this year, with more rail lines to open in the coming years.

Mr Lui said: "As these new lines open, I think... crowdedness on certain existing stretches of the network should improve."

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The article ("Reliability of MRT key to having fewer cars on roads"; Feb 13) alleged that Singapore's MRT system is less reliable than the New York City Subway, through a comparison that our MRT had one breakdown every 120,000km while New York's had one every 260,000km.

This is incorrect and unfortunately was repeated in the commentary ("Public transport: No. 1 in the world?"; last Saturday).

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority measures train reliability using car-kilometres whereas Singapore uses train-kilometres.

On Singapore's six- and three-car systems, one train-km is equivalent to six car-km and three car-km respectively.

If our six-car train encounters a fault after 100,000km, it would be reflected in our statistics as having failed once after 100,000 train-km.

However, if we convert this to car-km, the six-car train would have experienced a fault after 600,000 car-km.

Similarly, for a three-car train that encounters a fault after 100,000 train-km, it would be reflected as having failed after 300,000 car-km.

Hence, comparing like with like, Singapore's rail reliability would be more, not less, reliable than New York's by a considerable margin.

Our MRT network experienced one delay longer than five minutes for every 456,000 car-km operated last year, compared with New York's one in 247,000 car-km.

Notwithstanding this, we acknowledge that there is work to be done to improve our rail network reliability. SMRT and SBS Transit have ramped up their engineering capabilities and processes, hired more engineers and significantly increased investment in maintenance.

The Land Transport Authority is also working with the two operators to strengthen their maintenance regimes to actively monitor the condition of their assets, predict where problems are most likely to occur, and take pre-emptive steps where required.

Helen Lim (Ms)

Director, Media Relations

Land Transport Authority

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