Opening Address at SMRT’s Launch of iSafe by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment & Ministry of Transport

SMRT Chairman Mr Seah Moon Ming,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

1.     Good morning. I am pleased to join you here today for the launch of SMRT’s iSafe system in our Bukit Panjang LRT stations.

2.     When it comes to designing and operating our rail systems, safety has always been our highest priority. One source of safety risk is track intrusions. Although such accidents are very rare, they can have serious consequences, and we are always looking for ways to further minimise such incidents and enhance commuter safety.

3.     This is where iSafe comes in. iSafe is an automated system that leverages advanced video analytics to detect track intrusions at LRT stations. When it detects an intrusion, iSafe sends an alert to the LRT Operations Control Centre, together with a marked up screenshot of the incident and a live CCTV feed of the location. This allows the operations team to quickly confirm the track intrusion, turn off traction power to bring the trains to a stop, and prevent any mishap.

4.     The iSafe project commenced in May last year as an SMRT initiative. The SMRT team shared with me the effort and care they took to complete this project. There were multiple rounds of iteration to train and refine the AI system, and many trials to validate its accuracy.

5.     The teams worked very hard to move the project forward, and I am glad that iSafe was completed two months ahead of schedule. With this system in place, operational staff at the Operations Control Centre now have both visual and audio alerts in the event of track intrusions.

6.     While we will take every effort to make our systems as safe and possible, every commuter can play a part to make sure that everyone gets to their destination safely. Commuters can look out for others around them. Emergency Stop Buttons are prominently located on station platforms. I encourage every commuter to take a second to familiarise themselves with where the buttons are located, so that they can help to stop the trains in the event of a track intrusion. Most importantly, every commuter should be aware of their surroundings so they can take care of themselves. We have enhanced our visual signages, increased the frequency of audio announcements, and installed tactile warning studs along the station platforms, to remind commuters to stay behind the yellow line while waiting for trains. This is still the most vital safeguard.

7.     In closing, I would like to commend SMRT for their initiative in developing iSafe. I encourage our public transport operators to continue co-innovating with LTA, to keep on improving our transport systems and enhance commuter safety. Thank you.