SINGAPORE: Singapore commuters should brace for longer MRT and LRT closures in the coming years.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will allocate more engineering hours, including extended shutdowns where needed, to accelerate rail upgrades. The move follows a string of service disruptions in 2025 and recommendations by the Rail Reliability Taskforce, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported on Feb 13.
The Ministry of Transport has accepted the task force’s proposals. The focus now is on fixing power, signalling, and train systems first. These failures cause the biggest impact when things go wrong.
In a joint statement, LTA, SMRT, and SBS Transit said renewing multiple systems while keeping trains running daily brings “inherent coordination and operational challenges.” That balancing act has become harder as the network ages and expands.
One major change involves the North East Line (NEL). Renewal of its power supply system will be brought forward to start this year. LTA will also boost traction power capacity on the NEL and Sengkang-Punggol Light Rail Transit (LRT) system with new substations. In the longer term, it will study a dedicated higher-capacity backup power intake for the NEL.
Signalling systems will also get attention. LTA and operators will study new procedures and bypass systems so trains can move at slower speeds during faults instead of stopping fully. That could reduce long waits on platforms.
Train design will be tweaked, too. Key mechanical parts, such as coupling levers and brake isolation valves, will be repositioned for easier access during breakdowns. Electrical circuits will be improved to better withstand faults.
Some works may require full-day closures. A spokesperson told CNA that certain projects are more complex and intensive and can only be done safely over longer stretches than standard engineering hours allow. “This will require service adjustments. Whether full-day service closures are required depends on the type of works being carried out and their complexity.”
Any changes will be studied and announced in advance. Alternative transport options will be provided. LTA also plans to speed up the deployment of bridging buses during disruptions.
The urgency comes after 15 incidents over three months last year. They ranged from signalling faults on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) to power failures on the Bukit Panjang LRT and North-South Line (NSL). In several cases, faulty components had to be replaced after trains stalled or systems tripped for safety.
These incidents exposed weak points in ageing systems. They also showed how one fault can cascade across a line, especially when backup systems are limited.
Beyond hardware, LTA wants better management of spare parts. It will stockpile more spares and secure extended support from manufacturers. More standardised, modular system designs are planned to enable faster upgrades and easier maintenance.
Data monitoring will be expanded across the network for earlier fault detection. Robotics and automation will play a bigger role in maintenance. LTA will also co-fund staff training.
The Singapore Rail Academy will expand its role to standardise training and certification. LTA aims to have 20 per cent of the rail workforce chartered or certified, forming a core group of master practitioners.
LTA chief executive Ng Lang said: “This report is the result of four months of very intense work between September and December last year. We had scrutinised every MRT and LRT line for immediate issues that we could resolve together.”
He added that the task force’s work comes “at a very opportune time when we are juggling between ageing, existing systems and a rail network that is expanding rapidly.”
For commuters, this likely means more planned disruptions before things improve. It may test patience in the short term. Yet the intent is to fix the weak spots now, even if it means longer closures, to avoid larger breakdowns later.
In a dense city where public transport is a daily lifeline, reliability is the baseline. Service adjustments will be carefully planned. The trade-off is straightforward: longer planned closures today, fewer surprise breakdowns tomorrow.
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