Consultants from Japan and Sweden to assess power supply and MRT track infrastructure

Experts from Sweden and Japan will be brought in to conduct an assessment on the power supply and track-side infrastructure for the North-South and East-West MRT lines following the disruptions on July 7, 2015. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

SINGAPORE - A team of Swedish and Japanese experts have been appointed to conduct an independent assessment of the North-South and East-West lines' power supply and track-side infrastructure, following the July 7 train disruptions.

The team consists of four experts from Sweden's Parsons Brinkerhoff and a traction power expert from Meidensha Corporation, a Tokyo-based company with extensive experience in power supply.

They will be led by Mr Mats Onner from Parsons, and Mr Hiroto Ikeda from Meidensha, and will be given "full access to the infrastructure and installations along the NSEWL during non-service hours", said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement on Tuesday.

"The team of experts, closely assisted by engineers from LTA and SMRT, will also be analysing the data collated by LTA and SMRT engineers1 since the incident," the statement added.

Their assessment will focus on identifying the root cause of the power trip that caused the July 7 disruption where the system was shut down from more than two hours and left more than 250,000 commuters stranded.

The assessment will also propose areas for improvement to prevent a recurrence.

"They will also review the current condition of the power supply and trackside installations, as well as provide recommendations to enhance the overall system and its maintenance," said LTA, adding that this assessment is expected to be completed in August.

Both teams of experts were selected for their experience in railway engineering, said LTA.

It added that Parson was the consultant for mechanical services on both lines, while Meidensha had also designed and installed the power supply systems on them.

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