Bukit Panjang LRT to have shorter hours in August, shut for a day in October for renewal work
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The changes are to enable an upgrade of the rail line’s Operations Control Centre, which has been running since 1999.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - Rail services on the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) system will end an hour early over two weekends in August and stop for a full day in October.
This is to allow upgrading work to be done on its ageing Operations Control Centre (OCC), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Monday.
LTA said services on the 13-station BPLRT will end an hour earlier, at 10.30pm, on Aug 12, 13, 19 and 20.
This will be followed by a full-day stoppage of services on Oct 1 – a Sunday.
The rail line’s OCC has been running since 1999, the year the BPLRT – the third-oldest line after the North-South and East-West MRT lines – started operations.
It controls and monitors the signalling, power supply and communications systems, as well as station facilities of the BPLRT network.
LTA said the upgrading work would be carried out in phases to reduce inconvenience to commuters.
It includes moving the line to an interim OCC to allow the existing centre to be upgraded.
The line, run by SMRT Trains, will revert to the original centre when the upgrade is completed in three years.
The early closures in August will allow the interim centre to be tested and commissioned, while the full-day stoppage on Oct 1 will enable the migration of the system to the interim centre, said LTA.
On the two August weekends when service hours will be shortened, commuters wishing to continue their journeys after 10.30pm can take buses that serve Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang.
These include services 67, 171, 920, 922, 960, 963, 972, 972M, 973, 974, and 976.
An extra shuttle bus service will run along the LRT’s Service B route, via Petir station, during the Oct 1 closure, said LTA.
Bukit Panjang resident Ng Geok Teng, 21, who uses the line about twice a month, said she is usually not out till late. The changes to BPLRT’s schedule will, therefore, not inconvenience her much.
“Although the LRT is working well currently, having improved systems that have increased efficiency and reliability is always better for everyone,” she told The Straits Times.
The upgrade of the OCC is part of a continuing renewal of the BPLRT scheduled for completion by 2026 – two years after an original 2024 target
When completed, the BPLRT will have 19 new light rail vehicles and 13 retrofitted ones, as well as improved signalling and power systems and condition-monitoring capabilities.
The 19 new vehicles, which will be delivered progressively and tested on arrival, are meant to replace the existing ones in service since 1999.
In addition, 13 vehicles rolled out in 2015 are being upgraded to support the new communications-based train control signalling system.
Two of these vehicles have been upgraded and re-entered passenger service on Saturday. The signalling system upgrade for all 13 vehicles is slated for completion in 2025.
