Public transport in Singapore: updates and plans

Five stations on Circle Line to open in May
Transport improvements with new lines and more trains to save travel time
Yeo Ghim Lay, Straits Times 13 Feb 09;

RESIDENTS in areas such as Lorong Chuan and Bartley Road will have an MRT station at their doorsteps a tad earlier than expected.

Circle Line Stage 3, which has five stations, will open on May 30 instead of June, Transport Minister Raymond Lim announced in Parliament during yesterday's debate on his ministry's budget.

The remaining 24 stations on the new line will open progressively from next year, helping to reduce crowding on the existing MRT lines.

When completed, the Circle Line will take about 10 to 15 per cent of commuter trips from existing lines.

'(It) will help commuters save travel time, by reducing the need to make detours into the city centre to transfer across MRT lines,' said Mr Lim.

The five stations that will open are Marymount, Bishan, Lorong Chuan, Serangoon and Bartley.

Bishan will be the interchange station for the North-South line and Serangoon, the North-East line.

Student Jerald Seow, 15, who lives near Bartley Road, was among those who jumped with joy yesterday on hearing the earlier opening date.

He now takes a 25-minute bus ride to Paya Lebar MRT station and hops on a train to get to town on weekends.

'When Bartley station opens, I can take a train to Bishan MRT instead. It will be a lot more convenient,' he said.

The Circle Line is among $40 billion worth of rail projects that will double Singapore's rail network.

Besides adding new rail lines, the Transport Ministry is also intent on reducing waiting time along existing lines, which introduced 900 extra train trips a week last year.

One major move is the purchase of 22 new trains, to be delivered in 2011.

Another is to expand Jurong East MRT station, where there is a bottleneck.

Trains arriving there from Bukit Batok now have only one platform and track to stop at before they turn around. A second train will have to wait for the first to leave before it pulls into Jurong East.

A project to add another platform and track will be completed by 2011 instead of 2012, said Mr Lim.

The changes to Jurong East station and the new trains will cost $800 million in all. They will help boost carrying capacity along the North-South and East-West lines by 15 per cent and slash the waiting time between trains to two minutes in 2011 from the current 2.1 to 4 minutes.

It is not possible to go lower than two minutes, the ministry said, as the signalling system on the North-South and East-West lines cannot support a shorter time between trains.

Yet another project that will come onstream earlier is the extension of the North-South MRT line to Marina South. It will be completed a year earlier, in 2014.

Meanwhile, trains are likely to be more crowded as public transport ridership grows, before relief arrives in 2011.

Overcrowding on trains was raised by Madam Cynthia Phua (Aljunied GRC).

Responding, Mr Lim said the crowding level is still below what is acceptable.

At their most crowded, trains here carry an average of 1,300 to 1,450 passengers, compared to the Land Transport Authority's standard of 1,600 passengers.

They are also less crowded than trains in other cities. Singapore's trains pack in four people per square metre, which is similar to those in Hong Kong but lower than London's (five people) , Tokyo's (seven) and Shanghai's (eight).

Parliament sitting continues today, the last day of the nine-day Budget debate.

Blueprint for bus network in the works
Govt will balance needs of commuters with viability of the networks
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 13 Feb 09;

THE Government is working on a blueprint that will plug the gaps in Singapore's bus network and make journeys more convenient for commuters.

In drafting it, it will be guided by three main factors: How the bus, rail and road networks support one another, improving the overall quality of journeys and ensuring the bus network is financially viable.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim spelt out these considerations yesterday, in his reply to MPs seeking an update on the centralised bus planning system.

He also assured commuters that 'LTA will look at the best way to benefit as many people as possible while maintaining the overall viability of the bus network'.

The final transfer of this planning job to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will take place at year's end. And the first few tenders of bus routes are likely to take place early next year.

Meanwhile, the LTA is making sure profits will not be sacrificed in the new network.

Mr Lim said an unprofitable system will reduce the quality of bus services in the long run because operators will not have enough revenue to invest and upkeep the system.

One example of balancing the needs of the public with financial viability is that of bus services duplicating rail routes, he added.

LTA will have to decide judiciously on this, he said. On sections where the rail system is heavily congested, this would make sense. But for other areas, duplication may not prove useful.

Mr Lim assured Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade GRC) that the LTA, while looking at financial viability, will not automatically shut down bus routes that are not profitable.

It will consider suggestions to reduce bus frequency instead and look at the viability of the whole system rather than each route individually.

It is understood that the Transport Ministry is considering packaging unprofitable bus routes with more profitable ones to make the overall package attractive to bidders.

Yesterday, Mr Lim said the LTA was on track to take over the route planning from the two operators - SBS Transit and SMRT - later this year.

Tendering out the bus routes will bring competition 'for the market', said MrLim, rather than competition 'in the market' as suggested by Mr Alvin Yeo (Hong Kah GRC).

Mr Lim pointed out that competition 'in the market', which means more than one bus plying the same route, will be wasteful duplication.

Competition 'for the market', which the Government prefers, will see operators bid for different bus routes.

There will then be 'threat of competition' to keep dominant market players on their toes because routes will go up for tender after contracts expire.

Overall, when making decisions on bus planning, LTA will take a consultative approach, said Mr Lim.

From the second half of the year, it will speak to grassroots leaders on these changes and listen to feedback from residents through grassroots representatives.

'One of our guiding principles is to avoid making any radical Big Bang-type changes to bus services...Otherwise there will be mass confusion,' said Mr Lim.

However, he warned that even with the Government planning the routes, painful trade-offs will still be necessary.

For example, a feeder bus service with a circuitous route may be straightened out to stop it from taking 'one big round' before reaching an MRT station.

While this may please some residents, others who may be going to the market, will lose their direct service.

The proposed consultation with grassroots leaders will help resolve some of these issues, said Mr Lim.

Four MRT lines in Marina Bay by 2018
Straits Times 13 Feb 09;

BY 2018, the Marina Bay area will be served by four MRT lines - the North-South Line, Circle Line, Downtown Line and the Thomson Line.

Commuters will be able to reach an MRT station within a walking distance of no more than 400m on average.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim revealed this in response to MP and deputy chair of Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Ong Kian Min's question on what was being done to make transport seamless in the Marina Bay area which will house the integrated resort.

Mr Lim said that the ministry was also working on making access to MRT stations in the new downtown seamless, with walkways underground, at street level and above ground.

Some could also be malls, like the link between Suntec City and City Hall MRT station.

MARIA ALMENOAR

Fast growth in public transport ridership
Straits Times 13 Feb 09;

MORE people took buses and trains last year, pushing public transport ridership up by 7.4 per cent, the fastest growth rate in many years, said Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday.

But this has slowed down with the onset of the economic recession, he added.

Ridership grew by 9.4 per cent last September compared to the year before, but the year-on-year growth rate was 6.4 per cent in October and 4.9 per cent in December.

The preliminary estimate for last month indicates that ridership actually fell by 3.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Mr Lim said this could be due to Chinese New Year, which fell in February last year.

'But it could also be that the economic slowdown has led to cutbacks on discretionary trips,' he said.

YEO GHIM LAY

Phase 1 of Circle Line to open on May 30
Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia 12 Feb 09;

SINGAPORE : Public transport ridership has been going up - and with it comes more crowding.

To ease the situation, the government announced that two rail projects - Jurong East Modification project and the North-South Line extension - are being brought forward, and 22 new trains being bought.

Still, with the changes only kicking in by 2011, the squeeze will still be on for a while.

Last year, public transport ridership spiked by 7.4 per cent - one of the fastest rates in years. And the overcrowding is being felt on MRT trains.

"MRT trains still suffer from an overcrowding problem. Has LTA (Land Transport Authority) reviewed the capacity? Is it possible to add more tracks on the existing lines, which are now overcrowded and have reached maximum capacity," asked Cynthia Phua, MP for Aljunied GRC.

With 900 additional train trips per week added since last year, that is the best the system can do in terms of train frequencies, given the current constraints.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said the only way to increase capacity is through infrastructural changes.

Currently, there is a bottleneck at the Jurong East Interchange station. The whole system is slowed down as the train does a turnaround, because there is only a single platform for this.

LTA is now building a second platform so that two trains can turn around at the same time, with the project completion brought forward by a year to 2011.

22 new trains are also being bought. When they enter the system, it should lower waiting times to as low as 2 minutes at the busiest stretches.

Opening new lines will also ease the crunch. Phase 1 of the Circle Line will officially open on May 30. The new MRT line will open its first five stations - Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount.

The other stages of the Circle Line are expected to open from 2010 onwards, and they are expected to divert about 10-15 per cent of passenger traffic.

But such large infrastructure projects take time to kick in, with one of the main changes coming only in 2011. At the same time, public transport ridership is increasing, and may go up even further during the economic downturn. So the situation may just get worse before it gets better.

One other major initiative this year is the LTA taking over the role of central bus network planner. This will be a two-stage process - first, talking to the industry, operators and experts, and then to grassroots representatives.

The transport minister said: "One of our guiding principles is to avoid making any radical, big-bang-type changes to bus services. Commuters make more than three million trips on buses every day, and we are conscious that any change must be gradual. Otherwise, there will be mass confusion.

"Our approach instead is to identify any gaps in connectivity, try to plug them, and see where bus services can be streamlined to improve efficiency of the network."

And it is only after this is done, can LTA look at how best to package the bus routes for competitive tendering. - CNA /ls

To ease the squeeze
New track at Jurong East MRT Station to boost capacity in 2011 as Govt speeds up major projects
Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 13 Feb 09;

IT IS a happy headache for the authorities: Public transport ridership increased by 7.4 per cent last year, the fastest rate in many years and about double what had been expected. And in Transport Minister Raymond Lim’s words, “if out of every five car trips, one is taken on public transport, then indeed we are on the way to success”.

But success will come with a squeeze, a concern yesterday of MPs, and the authorities are now bringing forward as many projects as possible.

Where demand has shot up most — rail, which saw a 10- to 15-per-cent hike — the work to build a new track and platform at Jurong East interchange, a critical node in the rail system that is affecting train frequency now, will be completed in 2011, one year ahead of schedule.

The Jurong East Modification Project will create a second platform for the North-South line to ease the current bottleneck in train turn-around times and boost the North-South and East-West lines’ capacity by 15 per cent.

By 2011, 22 trains would have been added to SMRT’s current fleet of over 100, Mr Lim revealed yesterday in Parliament. The tender has already been called. But until then, commuters will feel the squeeze.

But Mr Lim promised that the crowd will remain below the operating standard of five persons per square metre.

“Even at the most crowded stretches in the morning, peak-of-peak, say, at Toa Payoh south-bound, the trains are carrying an average of 1,300 to 1,450 passengers. This is about four passengers per square metre,” he said.

The economic downturn may slow ridership growth; preliminary numbers in January showed a 3.1-per-cent dip from a year ago. This could be due to cutback on discretionary trips, or the Chinese New Year holiday, he said.

Going forward, he acknowledged, ample capacity is “vital” in getting more people to switch to public transport. Hence, also brought forward by a year is the North-South line extension, to 2014. It will link Marina Bay station with upcoming Marina Bay developments such as the integrated resort.

In two weeks’ time, the Boon Lay Extension will be running, and on May 30, the Circle Line Stage Three, from Bartley to Marymount, will open. Beyond 2020, when all rail lines will be completed, the LTA will review the need for a new train signalling system — likely to cost billions of dollars — with other agencies like the Finance Ministry, said Mr Lim.



BUS ROUTES: NO RADICAL CHANGES

On the topic of buses, at least seven MPs voiced concerns and suggestions on Central Bus Planning, a role the Land Transport Authority will undertake this year. Mr Cedric Foo, Government Parliamentary Committee chairman for transport, urged for thoroughfares to be implemented by this year, while Mdm Cynthia Phua suggested that the feeder bus sector be opened to more private operators. Mr Lam Pin Min noted the lack of bus connectivity in Sengkang and Punggol.

But LTA’s new role will not result in “radical, big bang-type” changes, to avoid confusion among commuters, said Mr Lim. It will fix service gaps and inefficiencies in the network.

LTA will consult grassroots leaders on central bus planning, and will ensure the overall financial viability of the bus network, “rather than insist that every route on its own make a profit”.

“But this doesn’t mean we can add economically unviable services to the network in an indiscriminate manner,” said Mr Lim. The Public Transport Council will decide by this month whether to implement thoroughfares at one go or to phase it in, and will reveal details on transport fare reductions.