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Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said on Tuesday that he had received the task force’s recommendations.<\/p>\n
“The Ministry of Transport will now review the task force\u2019s report and provide a full response to its recommendations by the first quarter of next year,” he said in a Facebook post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The task force also highlighted that the rail sector needed to continually upgrade its workforce, sustaining a pipeline of engineering talent to operate and manage an ageing and expanding network.<\/span><\/p>\n It recommended that LTA and rail operators work together to strengthen the role of the Singapore Rail Academy in harmonising and raising standards across the board to prepare the rail workforce for future challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n “This would include enhancing the professional certification framework for rail engineers and technicians by expanding certification coverage to more rail systems and workers,” said LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT.<\/span><\/p>\n There could also be more structured and frequent staff rotations between LTA and the rail operators to build common perspectives and capabilities, they added.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the transport authority and train operators pointed out that maintaining a high level of rail reliability does not eliminate delays and disruptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The task force has therefore recommended measures to enhance standard operating procedures to manage service disruptions on the ground, they noted.<\/span><\/p>\n “The challenge of operating and maintaining the rail system will only increase as its size and complexity grow,” said LTA’s Mr Ng. “These recommendations will help guide the next steps to be taken to continue strengthening the reliability of our rail network.”<\/span><\/p>\n SMRT Group CEO Ngien Hoon Ping, SBS Transit Group CEO Jeffrey Sim, as well as technical specialists across the rail sector, were part of the task force.<\/span><\/p>\n The group\u2019s work included a review of rail operations and maintenance, looking specifically at asset management, workforce capabilities, as well as rail service recovery and commuter management.<\/span><\/p>\n The review started with joint technical audits of systems related to the rail incidents from July to September.<\/span><\/p>\n It also involved technical workshops, site visits, direct ground observations and interviews with operational and technical staff on the ground, said LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT.<\/span><\/p>\n A five-member independent advisory panel with experts from around the world was appointed to provide strategic advice and technical expertise to the group.<\/span><\/p>\n The panel visited Singapore last month, where they reviewed the task force\u2019s preliminary findings and assessed the practices, capabilities and incident response strategies of the country\u2019s rail operators.<\/span><\/p>\n In his Facebook post, Mr Siow thanked the task force for their work over the past few months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTHE TASK FORCE<\/span><\/h2>\n