SMRT invests a whopping $195m on North-South East-West Lines

The project will replace the signaling system on the NSEW Lines, reducing the time gap between trains to 100 seconds.

The project, which will be completed in phases from 2016, will make it possible for trains to run at an improved frequency of 100 seconds, down from 120 seconds today, reducing waiting time for commuters.

The existing signaling system on the NSEW Lines is a "fixed-block" system that divides the tracks into blocks and can detect where a train is when it moves into a new section. For safety reasons, trains must travel at least one signaling block apart from each other. With this existing system, a time gap of at least 120 seconds is required between a train that is leaving a station and the next one that is entering.

The new signaling system used will be a “Communications-Based Train Control” system, where a train's precise location and speed are tracked and safety gaps between trains are not based on signal blocks but between trains. Such a system can reduce the time gap between trains entering and exiting stations by 20 seconds, to 100 seconds, during peak periods.

This morning, SMRT signed the letter of agreement with Thales Solutions Asia Pte Ltd, the appointed contractor to undertake the project. The replacement work covers more than 100 km of tracks on the NSEW Lines and involves designing of a new signaling system; manufacturing and installing of new signaling equipment; testing and commissioning of the new signalling system at all tracks, stations, trains, depots as well as the Operations Control Centre.