Speech by Minister Khaw Boon Wan at Signing Ceremony for the Memorandum Of Understanding between SMRT Trains Ltd, SBS Transit, ST Engineering Electronics Ltd, and ST Engineering Land Systems

Friends and colleagues,

1.     Thank you for attending today’s MOU signing ceremony.

2.     Our train services are stabilising. The latest MKBF for the whole network has crossed 850,000 train-km. I think we can all be very proud of this achievement.

3.     One major success factor is the good team work between regulator, operators and the industry. We should sustain such team work as rail reliability efforts are not one-off. They are part and parcel of providing a good train service.

4.     There are different models for the rail industry globally. For example, Hong Kong has a commercial and vertically integrated system – with Hong Kong MTR owning, funding and running the network with property development rights for the land around its train stations.

5.     Taipei Metro, on the other hand, has a government-owned and vertically integrated system – with rail service run by public servants. Both have achieved good reliable train services, despite different ownership models.

6.     In Singapore, we have taken a middle path, with two operators competing to secure the operational concession from LTA. With this model, we have tried to make it work for us. We have evolved the model over the years, with the benefit of experience.

7.     I cannot say if this will be the permanent state. Regardless of the operational model, my own experience is that it is the people who count. The key is to get all stakeholders aligned around common objectives that they can work on for the larger public good.

8.     What are these common objectives?

9.     First, a good and reliable public transport service which Singaporeans can be proud of. This will benefit the commuters.

10.    Second, a sustainable rail industry which offers attractive and stable jobs for our rail workers.  This will benefit the employees.

11.    Third, creating opportunities for Singapore enterprise to seize business deals in the region. This will benefit Singapore companies.

12.    Within Singapore, the local players are more collaborators than business rivals.  There is synergy in working together to identify core competencies, upskill our workers, and jointly grow the industry. Through strategic procurement, we can attract major OEMs to establish long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships in Singapore to serve the region. These OEMs can establish local Centres of Excellence by bringing with them the latest technology and expertise which our local players can also learn from. This is ultimately good for our commuters, because a strong Singaporean Engineering Core contributes to a more resilient and a self-reliant public transport network.

13.    This is ultimately good for our commuters, because a strong Singaporean Engineering Core contributes to a more resilient and a self-reliant public transport network.

14.    MOT and LTA play the roles of both regulator and industry developer, to make Singapore’s rail industry a dynamic segment of our economy. As we expand our rail network, I see many opportunities to grow new capabilities that can provide good jobs for Singaporeans. That’s why today’s MOU signing is done here in LTA. LTA is not a signatory; more like a cheer-leader, a solemniser.

15.    This afternoon’s MOU signing is one small step in this overall strategy to grow our rail industry.

16.    The MOU will enable SMRT, SBST, and ST Engineering to collaborate in the cost-effective development of engineering capabilities for rail operations and maintenance. Specifically, they will seek to identify and establish collaborative projects or arrangements of mutual interest. The aim is to minimise the duplication of resources, and address technology gaps faced by the local industry.

17.    This collaboration will start by focusing on electronic card repairs. I remember this subject very clearly, because when we started, I set up an international advisory panel of some of the top metro operators in the world and I had good discussions with them in those early years. I distinctly remember talking to the former Chairman of the Taipei MRT, Taipei Metro. As we know, Taipei Metro runs a very highly respectable reliable service. Among the few things that he chit-chatted with me, he raised these electronic cards. He said this is a very common source of delays and breakdown of services and if you can fix this problem, then you can cut down a lot of your difficulties.

18.    And often, the way metros do is they rely on the OEM suppliers. OEM suppliers will come to you when you call them, and if they have stock and the downtime is maybe a few hours. But if they don’t have stock, then the downtime could be several days. Hence, he decided that his team in Taipei would go into the details of it and develop their own capabilities so that when the problem arises, they would have their own engineers there and then fix it. Of course, once you know the subject better, you may even be able to prevent such breakdown to begin with.

19.    I am glad that this collaboration will start by focusing on electronic card repairs.  As I said, electronic cards are critical components in our MRT systems. A fault with an electronic card can disrupt the signals transmitted between the trains and track equipment, and affect train services for commuters. By pooling knowledge and resources in this area, we can diagnose and repair electronic cards more quickly, and also reduce service downtime.

20.    We have come a long way since I joined MOT in October 2015 so that’s almost four years. The first two years were fire-fighting, both literally as well as figuratively. And sometimes we also have to handle floods! And we even had a lightning incident.

21.   Now that train services have stabilised, we are now able to focus on the longer term strategic issues.  I congratulate SMRT, SBST, and ST Engineering on this MOU. I wish you all every success.

22.    Thank you.