Acting Minister for Transport sets expectations for future of Singapore rail system at international rail summit
At the International Metro Operators’ Summit organised by SBS Transit, Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said that Singaporeans should expect longer and more frequent planned MRT closures in the coming years, a necessary step to maintain reliability.
Delivering his opening remarks on 19 Nov to more than 700 metro experts and rail operators, Mr Siow said these closures are necessary as Singapore tackles three challenges of an MRT system that is growing older.
Source: Jeffrey Siow on Facebook
Singapore’s 40-year-old MRT system facing challenges shared by older metros
Mr Siow noted that Singapore’s MRT system, which opened in 1986, is “almost 40 years old” and is now grappling with the same issues seen in London, Chicago, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
Despite having over 270km of rail lines today — expanding to 360km by the early 2030s, putting 8 in 10 households within a 10-minute walk of a station — the MRT’s fundamental challenge remains maintaining reliability as the system ages.
He described rail maintenance as “Sisyphean”, calling it constant patch and repair, with rare opportunities for major upgrades.
He highlighted three widening gaps:
Insufficient maintenance time
Slow adoption of new technology
A shortage of younger talent entering the rail sector
Longer MRT closures needed as nightly maintenance window is ‘scarcely enough’
Calling maintenance “the most critical part” of operating a rail system, Mr Siow warned that inadequate maintenance leads to “technical and maintenance debt”, followed by declining reliability and eventual service disruptions.
He highlighted that most work is currently squeezed into a 3.5-hour nightly window, which shrinks to barely two hours after accounting for setup and cleanup.
He called this “hardly enough to prepare for the next day, let alone carry out upgrades”.
To address this, Mr Siow said Singaporeans must plan for longer scheduled closures, which will:
speed up upgrade and repair works
reduce maintenance risks
improve safety for transport workers
He added that more planned closures are coming.
A preview of this can be seen in the East-West Line shutdown later this month on 29 Nov, where commuters will face about 10 days of disruption as engineers work to connect a new train depot.
Mr Siow urged commuters to plan ahead and asked for understanding.
Automation, real-time data & retraining to tackle other gaps
For the other two challenges — technology adoption and manpower — Mr Siow outlined additional solutions.
He proposed closing the tech gap by pushing for wider use of automation and predictive maintenance powered by real-time data.
Current tech-forward efforts include SBS Transit’s AVATAR robotic dog, used to inspect trains, and SMRT’s upgraded depots using automated equipment and rail-guided vehicles, doubling overhaul capacity.
He also pointed to a talent shortage in the rail sector, with about 8,000 rail workers having a median age above 40.
Source: LTA
Newer systems require skills in engineering, software, and cybersecurity, and industries like defence and data centres compete for the same talent pool.
To address this, Singapore has set up both the Singapore Rail Academy and National Transport Academy, supported by a $1 billion rail maintenance fund for workforce development.
‘There is no such thing as the best system’
Mr Siow concluded with a quote from a Chinese government official:
In transport, there is no such thing as the best system. Commuters always expect something better.
He said this is a sentiment shared across the global rail community, and that building a reliable metro network requires all stakeholders — operators, unions, regulators — to work together as “OneTransport”.
Also read: ‘Damn tired of the excuses’: Netizens slam Jeffrey Siow’s parliamentary response on MRT breakdowns
‘Damn tired of the excuses’: Netizens slam Jeffrey Siow’s parliamentary response on MRT breakdowns
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Featured image adapted from Jeffrey Siow on Facebook and MustShareNews.
