The Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) is a
automated guideway transit
An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...
line in
Bukit Panjang
Bukit Panjang is a planning area and residential town located in the West Region of Singapore. A portion of this town is situated on a low-lying elongated hill. The planning area is bounded by Bukit Batok to the west, Choa Chu Kang to the no ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. The BPLRT is currently the only
LRT line operated by
SMRT Trains
SMRT Trains Limited is a rail operator in Singapore and a wholly owned subsidiary of SMRT Corporation. After the privatisation of the MRT operations in 1995, it was originally named Singapore MRT Limited. On 31 December 2001, it was renamed to ...
. As the name suggests, it serves 13 stations in the neighbourhood of
Bukit Panjang
Bukit Panjang is a planning area and residential town located in the West Region of Singapore. A portion of this town is situated on a low-lying elongated hill. The planning area is bounded by Bukit Batok to the west, Choa Chu Kang to the no ...
and parts of
Choa Chu Kang in the north-west of the country. The line was the first LRT line constructed in Singapore, having opened on 6 November 1999 by then
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...
Tony Tan
Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. He did not seek for a second term as president in 2017 due to a constitutional amendment ...
.
It is a fully elevated and automated
people mover
A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...
system. The line currently uses the
Innovia APM 100
The Innovia APM 100 (formerly known as the CX-100) is an automated people mover (APM) rolling stock first developed by Westinghouse (later Adtranz, Bombardier Transportation, and now Alstom), intended mainly for airport connections and ligh ...
C801 and
C801A rolling stock supplied by
Bombardier, running in a two-car formation. With a 20-year design lifespan, a major overhaul of the system began in 2019 that is scheduled to complete in 2026, which include a new signalling and power rails system, as well as rolling stock.
History
Planning and construction
In November 1994, then-Communication Minister
Mah Bow Tan
Mah Bow Tan ( zh, s=马宝山, p=Mǎ Bǎoshān; born 12 September 1948) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Leader of the House between 2007 and 2011, Minister for National Development between 1999 and 2011, Minister for the Envir ...
announced that the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC) was conducting studies on the feasibility of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in Bukit Panjang. Subsequently, Bukit Panjang was one of the two locations selected for the construction of the first LRT systems in Singapore in December 1994. The tender for the design and construction of the LRT system were called in December 1994, receiving eight bids.
In February 1996, the then-Prime Minister
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (M ...
announced that the Bukit Panjang LRT system had been given the go-ahead, and was expected to be completed in three years. An exhibition about the system was organised by the
Land Transport Authority (LTA) in April 1996, featuring models and maps of the stations on the line, and a booth at which visitors could vote for the colours of the rolling stock, and the shape of the station roofs. In the same month, the contract for the system's design and construction was awarded to a consortium consisting of Keppel Corporation, Gammon, and Adtranz for .
On 5 August 1997, the LTA awarded
SMRT a license to operate the LRT due to its experience with the MRT system. Testing on the line was underway by December 1998, and it commenced operations on 6 November 1999.
Reliability issues
Upon opening, the system suffered from reliability issues, having 32 service disruptions in its first six months of operation. Safety concerns regarding the system were also raised in Parliament in the wake of a collision between two trains in November 2000 that injured five passengers Most of these issues were rectified by September 2001, and by May 2002, the system was able to attain the government's desired service levels.
However, a subsequent five-day service disruption in October 2002, caused by a loose guide wheel, led the LTA to conduct an audit on the maintenance procedures carried out for the line. The audit found that the training and procedures for maintenance were adequate, but the actual maintenance work was not properly done, and the LTA gave the line's operator, Singapore LRT, six months to rectify the lapses found in the audit.
To rectify the issues with the system, Singapore LRT spent to replace worn-out wires in the line's signalling system, from December 2003 to April 2004. Service levels on the line had improved to adequate standards by 2003, but a subsequent disruption of service in May 2004 led to the line's operator initiating an internal probe into the matter.
Besides the reliability issues, the line was doing poorly financially, with Singapore LRT making annual losses of around to . Ridership on the line was also low, with around 40,000 commuters daily, 10,000 less than needed to break even, and was not expected to increase further, given a development slowdown in Bukit Panjang.
Upgrades and capacity increases
By 2010, ridership on the line had increased significantly, to around 47,000 commuters daily, and was expected to increase further. As the trains on the line had limited capacity to meet the demand, in November 2010, SMRT announced that they were contemplating capacity increases on the line. These capacity increases, in the form of 13 additional train cars, and a supplementary bus service between heavily used stations on the line and Choa Chu Kang, were announced by then-Transport Minister
Lui Tuck Yew
Lui Tuck Yew (; born 16 August 1961) is a Singaporean diplomat, former politician and two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as Singapore Ambassador to China since 2019. He previously served as Singapore Ambassador to Japan between 2017 an ...
in July 2011. In addition, SMRT contracted Bombardier Transportation to conduct a study on how to improve the line's reliability. The new trains entered service on the line in 2015.
In a bid to further improve reliability, in June 2015, the LTA and SMRT announced upgrades to the track, signalling systems, and electrical systems along the line, as faults in these areas had caused most of the service disruptions on the line. Later that month, then-Transport Minister
Lui Tuck Yew
Lui Tuck Yew (; born 16 August 1961) is a Singaporean diplomat, former politician and two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as Singapore Ambassador to China since 2019. He previously served as Singapore Ambassador to Japan between 2017 an ...
elaborated that the upgrades would comprise a 12-month study period to identify issues to rectify, and a several years long period in which the upgrades would be implemented. Additional staff were also deployed to improve service recovery, and platform barriers were installed at all stations along the line by 2017.
In October 2016, as the line was approaching its 20-year design lifespan, LTA and SMRT announced that they were considering several courses of action to take regarding the system. These comprised the renewal of the existing system, or its complete replacement, either with a new system or with buses. On 8 March 2017, it was announced that the system's power supply, signalling, rolling stock, track, stations, new signalling system would be upgraded. The authority ruled out scrapping the entire system or changing to automated guided vehicles drawn on self-power as it would cause major traffic congestion. On 3 October 2017, a tender for the revamp was called. To improve service reliability in the interim period, SMRT shortened operating hours on all Sundays from 12 November 2017 until the end of that year. which SMRT said allowed for additional time for maintenance.
On 7 March 2018, the Land Transport Authority awarded the contract to
Bombardier Transportation for $344 million on upgrading the system. This includes replacing the line's signalling system with the new Communications-Based Train Control system for a tighter headway between each trains and thus, reducing waiting time. 19 first-generation trains will be replaced while 13 second-generation trains will be refurbished. The upgrade is slated to be completed by 2026.
Network and operations
Route
Covering a distance of , the fully elevated line has 13 stations, and connects Bukit Panjang with
Choa Chu Kang MRT/LRT station
Choa Chu Kang MRT/LRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) interchange station in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore. It is an interchange between the North South line and Bukit Panjang LRT, serving as the w ...
. From Choa Chu Kang station, the line runs east along Choa Chu Kang Way and Choa Chu Kang Way, before making a loop around Bukit Panjang.
Services
There are two services on the line: A and B , both of which terminate at
Choa Chu Kang.
Stations
All stations, except
Choa Chu Kang, have two facing side platforms. Choa Chu Kang has an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
, similar to most
Singapore MRT
The Mass Rapid Transit system, locally known by the initialism MRT, is a rapid transit system in Singapore and the island country's principal mode of railway transportation. The system commenced operations in November 1987 after two decades of ...
stations. All the stations on the LRT have half-height platform barriers, installed between 2016 and 2017. These platform barriers have fixed openings instead of platform doors, which the LTA attributed to insufficient space on the station platforms to install the equipment needed for platform doors.
Choa Chu Kang station also has two additional platforms and a new set of fare gates to ease crowding during peak hours.
The stations on the line sport a conventional barrel-roof design, which was chosen by the Bukit Panjang residents when the BPLRT was being constructed.
List
Rolling stock
The Bukit Panjang LRT operates on the
Bombardier Innovia APM 100
The Innovia APM 100 (formerly known as the CX-100) is an automated people mover (APM) rolling stock first developed by Westinghouse (later Adtranz, Bombardier Transportation, and now Alstom), intended mainly for airport connections and light ...
rolling stock, similar to the ones used by the
Changi Airport Skytrain
The Changi Airport Skytrain is an automated people mover (APM) that connects Terminals 1, 2 and 3 at Singapore Changi Airport. Opened in 1990, it was the first driverless and automated system of its kind in South East Asia. The Changi Airport Sk ...
until 2006. An initial 19 trainsets were delivered in 1999 under
C801, which bear a turquoise livery. An additional 13 trainsets were delivered in 2014 under
C801A, bearing SMRT's pixel livery and a slightly different exterior design. Each unit is long.
These trains, also known as automated people movers, are rubber-tyred for minimised operating noise within built-up areas and guided by a central guideway which also contains a power rail. They operate in both single-car and double-car arrangements, paired with a similar model (C801 and C801A trainsets are not cross-coupled). The trains are also equipped with windows that fog up automatically when the train runs near residential buildings.
19 Bombardier Innovia APM 300 trains have been procured under
C801B as part of the Bukit Panjang LRT overhaul. These trains will be equipped with Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system and will replace the first generation
C801 trains.
Train formation
Between 1999 and 2015, the trains operated in one-car (M) formations throughout the day. Two-car formations were only operated during weekday peak hours to accommodate increased demand prior to the introduction of
C801A trains in 2014. Service B used to operate 2-car sets only during weekday morning peak hours, while Service A mostly operated them during weekday evening peak hours.
From 2015 until 2019, the majority of trains operated in two-car (M-M) formations. Two-car formations were no longer limited to peak hours due to the increase in ridership and number of apartments in Bukit Panjang.
Since 2019, all of the trains are running in two-car (M-M) formations throughout the day. The units are limited to a two-car train formation because of station length.
Coupling is usually done in
Ten Mile Junction Depot and the trains are coupled with the same car type: C801+C801 or C801A+C801A. Occasionally units are mixed for reasons such as rescue operations or testing.
Train control
The line is equipped with Bombardier's CITYFLO 550
fixed block signalling system for
automatic train control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver d ...
(ATC) under
automatic train operation (ATO) GoA 4 (UTO).
The subsystems consist of
Automatic train protection (ATP) to govern train speed, Automatic Train Supervision (ATS) to track and schedule trains, and a
computer-based interlocking Computer-based interlocking is railway signal interlocking implemented with computers, rather than using older technologies such as relays or mechanics.
General
CBIs are mostly implemented in two parts; a section that implements the safety and ...
(CBI) system that prevents incorrect signal and track points settings.
When the
Innovia APM 300R C801B enters service, the line will be upgraded to use Bombardier's
CITYFLO 650 moving block
communications-based train control
Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...
(CBTC) signalling system.
References
External links
Bukit Panjang LRT line
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukit Panjang LRT line
1999 establishments in Singapore
Bukit Panjang
Choa Chu Kang
Innovia people movers
Light Rail Transit (Singapore) lines
Railway lines opened in 1999
Automated guideway transit