Opening Remarks by Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow at SBS Transit’s International Metro Operators’ Summit

Mr Jeffrey Sim, Group CEO of SBS Transit

Mr George Freeman, UK Trade Envoy to Singapore

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished guests, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.     Good morning. I’m happy to be here, attending the inaugural International Metro Operators’ Summit today.

2.     This summit brings together over 700 global metro experts to share best practices and discuss the future of urban mobility. I want to commend SBS Transit for organising this because it is a good opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from one another, and deepen our understanding of how to keep improving urban transit.

3.     A metro system is a feature of every modern city. It is the most efficient option for mass transport in a dense environment.

4.     The first metro system opened in London in the 1860s, using steam locomotives. 

a.     In 1890, the first electric railway opened, also in London.  

b.     Shortly after, similar electric systems emerged in Chicago, Budapest, Glasgow and Paris.

c.     Today, these systems are well over a century old, but they remain the backbone of the world’s most dynamic cities

5.     In Asia, metro systems emerged later – Tokyo’s Ginza line in the 1920s, then Beijing, Seoul, and Hong Kong, much more recently in the 1970s. 

a.     As Asian cities grow, their metros grew with them. 

b.     Their metro systems were both a symbol of progress, and an enabler of growth.

6.     Singapore’s story is similar.

a.     We opened our Mass Rapid Transit system in 1986 – almost 40 years ago.  

i.     Famously, our government held a national debate on whether to build a rail system, or continue relying on buses. 

ii.    A team of specialists from Harvard University recommended an all-bus system, which they argued would be much cheaper than rail. 

iii.   Today, that debate is conclusively settled. It would not have been possible for buses to match the capacity of our rail system, and support Singapore’s population and economic growth.

b.     Today, we have over 270km (168 miles) of metro lines. 

c.     By the early 2030s, we will expand this to around 360km. This also means that eight in 10 households in Singapore will be within a 10-minute walk of a train station. 

Global challenges for metro systems

7.     At 40 years old, our train system is relatively new, with a high level of reliability. 

a.     But increasingly, we are dealing with the same problems that other older metro systems have encountered – specifically, how to maintain service quality and reliability, as the system ages.

b.     A metro system is extremely complex, it is made up of many interconnected parts.

c.     You can think of it as a combination of a house, car and computer. Some of us may own a 40-year-old house. Some of us may even own a 40-year-old car. But I am sure no one here owns a 40-year-old computer, let alone a 100-year-old system like the Tube.

8.     Keeping these systems going is Sisyphean task. It is a case of constant patch and repair; and very occasionally, finding an opportunity to do an upgrade. 

9.     To maintain rail reliability, there are three main challenges:

a.     Insufficient maintenance time; 

b.     Low adoption of technology;

c.     And not enough talent entering the sector to replace the existing workforce.

Maintenance time gap

10.    Let me start with the topic of insufficient maintenance time.

11.    Maintenance is not as sexy as building new train lines, but it is the most critical part of keeping a train system running. When there is inadequate maintenance, the technical and maintenance debt builds up. Reliability falls over time and services get disrupted.

12.    In Singapore, most of our maintenance is done in a 3.5-hour window when the train service fully shuts down at night, to when it must start up again in the morning.

13.    If you add in the time it takes to deploy the heavy equipment, and then to extract the equipment before train service has to resume, the window is much shorter – it is only about two hours every night. This is scarcely enough time to get the system ready for the next morning, let alone to do any major upgrades.

14.    Thus far, our approach has been to limit maintenance hours and prioritise the operations of train services for commuters. 

15.    But as our network ages, we have to shift this balance a little, to create more time for major upgrades that require a continuous block of maintenance time. 

16.    About a decade ago in Singapore, we started lengthening maintenance hours, by closing service slightly earlier and opening slightly later, especially on weekends. We have a term for it, “ECLO” (Early Closure, Late Opening). But even ECLOs is no longer enough right now.

17.    We have to begin planning for longer scheduled closures. This will enable repair works to be completed much faster. Just as importantly, it will also be safer for our transport workers who are doing these repairs every night.

18.    As you all know, older metros around the world routinely do these scheduled closures. In fact, independent experts that the Land Transport Authority consulted have assessed our system and recommended longer maintenance closures as well. 

19.    So going forward, we will have more such planned closures. One example is the scheduled closure along segments of the East-West Line starting end of this month.

a.     This will connect the East-West Line to a new train depot. 

b.     Commuters will be faced with some inconvenience for about 10 days.

i.     They still have alternative options by bus or train, but their journey times will be longer. So commuters are advised to plan and revise their travel routes well in advance. 

ii.    So I ask for commuters’ understanding, so we can do the necessary maintenance and reap the reliability dividend.

Technology gap

20.    The second challenge in maintaining rail reliability is the slow pace of technological advancement in public transport. 

a.     Metro systems, when they are first opened, are almost always state of the art.

b.     But almost immediately, they become outdated, because technology moves very quickly but legacy systems cannot be upgraded easily. 

c.     All of us, metro operators, try to keep up. We have old and new systems co-existing, and we try to upgrade whenever we can, whatever part of the system, bit by bit.

d.     But even then, it is a long slog. 

21.    For example, when I was in the Ministry of Transport 15 years ago, we were already talking about condition-based monitoring.

a.     As most of you know, condition-based monitoring is to get real-time data, to track performance, and in time, to build the foundation for not just pre-emptive maintenance but predictive maintenance. 

b.     Predictive maintenance will allow us to target the replacement of components that are starting to fail, instead of relying on manufacturers to tell us when to replace them.

c.     But even though sensors are much cheaper today, it is still difficult and costly to retrofit legacy metro systems to collect data. Not a simple task but we hope to be able to look at more ways to be able to do so in the coming years.

22.    Another area where technology can be improved is to use automation and robotics for maintenance. 

a.      Today, many maintenance tasks for the rail network are still manual. For example, we still have patrollers walking the tunnels every night to inspect the train tunnels.

b.      New technological solutions are being developed to help workers do these jobs better: 

i.     For example, SBS Transit is working on a robotic dog called AVATAR to inspect trains for potential faults. 

ii.    SMRT, our other rail operator, has upgraded its depot using automated equipment and rail-guided vehicles, which will double their train overhaul capacity. 

c.     But I think much more can be done in this area. Later on, we will have an opportunity to visit the exhibition booths, where some startups will showcase technological improvements that can potentially improve maintenance as well as the commuter experience.

Talent gap

23.    The third challenge that many metro systems face is the lack of fresh talent joining the sector.

a.     While working in public transport seems an attractive prospect at the outset, the truth is that many jobs in the sector, especially in rail maintenance, are what we call “3D” jobs: dirty, dangerous, and difficult.

b.     So as the current technician workforce ages, it is going to get harder and harder to get younger people to replace them.

24.    At the same time, newer metro systems require quite different technical skillsets – electrical and mechanical engineering as its base skillsets, and also operations, software, digital and cybersecurity skills. 

a.     The competition for such skill and talent is intense. 

b.     Many other industries, whether it is advanced manufacturing, defence, or data centres, all draw from the same pool. 

25.    If the public transport sector is unable to attract enough younger engineers and technicians, the manpower shortage will worsen, especially when experienced senior technicians retire.

26.    In Singapore today, we have around 8,000 rail workers with a median age of over 40. 

a.     We are aware that this is an impending problem. To drive talent recruitment and workforce development, the Singapore Rail Academy was established in 2017, bringing together efforts by the industry and the government to nurture talent for the sector.

b.     Recently, we also set up a National Transport Academy to draw expertise across all the existing rail, bus, and other training academies.

i.     This is led by a new head, Mr Jeremy Yap, who has deep experience in the land transport sector. We look forward to new initiatives from him in the coming years.

c.     These two academies aim to grow our talent pool and strengthen workforce capabilities, working closely with tertiary institutions, and tripartite partners.

d.     We have set up a $1 billion fund for rail maintenance, a significant part of which can be used for manpower development.

e.     This complements other programmes like the SGRail Industry Scholarship to attract more engineering talent.

f.      All these efforts will take some time to bear fruit, but I believe we will have better manpower outcomes in the coming years.

Conclusion

27.    In conclusion, maintaining the reliability of a metro network is a major challenge, not just for Singapore, but for metro systems everywhere.

28.     I see three challenges. Three gaps, if you will.

a.     The lack of maintenance time;

b.     The need for better technology;

c.     And a shortage of fresh talent.

29.    But if we mind the gaps – we can all look forward to a smoother ride. 

a.     To achieve this, the incentives of all stakeholders in the system must be aligned.

i.     The operators, the unions, the regulator.

ii.    In Singapore, we are fortunate to have a strong tripartite relationship. We call ourselves the OneTransport family, with the mission of continuously improving transport for our commuters. 

30. As our rail system ages, it will take more time and resources to maintain the same reliability. 

a. The OneTransport Family will do our best to meet the expectations of our commuters. 

b. But we also hope for commuters’ understanding.

c. That even with the best of our efforts, sometimes disruptions and delays will still happen – as they do everywhere in the world. 

31. I met a Chinese government official recently.

a. He commiserated with me when we were talking about transport, and he told me: “交通没有最好；只有更好”. 

b. To translate, it means that in transport, there is no such thing as the best system. Commuters always expect something better.

32. I think this is a sentiment that all of us here in this room – international operators, practitioners and experts – can identify with. 

a. In this room, we are not just the OneTransport family, we are the OneTransport community. ac

b. By coming together, we can share knowledge and best practices, and put our collective minds to solving our common challenges 

c. I hope today’s Summit is the start of many more discussions and conversations for this OneTransport community.

d. I look forward to learning more from all of you and from your experiences and expertise.

e. Thank you very much.