When Mr Jan Wen-tau first boarded an MRT train in Singapore in July 1990, he was awe-struck.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old Taiwanese engineer had never left Taiwan before. Back home, the only trains were conventional railways \u2013 older systems with jerkier rides. <\/p>\n
Little did he know it then, but his was the first step in a journey of joint discovery and shared learning between SMRT and the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC, or Taipei Metro) that would last 36 years and counting.<\/p>\n
\u201cRiding the MRT felt completely different: much more modern, very bright and clean,\u201d Mr Jan, now 63 and the vice-president of TRTC, recalls in Mandarin.<\/p>\n
The MRT trains impressed him. But it was what happened in the classrooms, depots and control rooms operated by SMRT that left the deepest mark.<\/p>\n Mr Jan Wen-tau (front row, third from left) with his Taipei colleagues and SMRT trainers, including SMRT coordinator Mahani Bagarib (back row, first from right), in 1990. The two would meet again in Singapore 35 years later.<\/p>\n PHOTO: COURTESY OF TRTC\u2019S JAN WEN-TAU<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Mr Jan was in Singapore from July to September 1990 for a training programme with seven Taipei colleagues. Their task: To learn how Singapore\u2019s MRT system worked and bring that knowledge back to kickstart Taipei\u2019s metro operations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe SMRT trainers held nothing back,\u201d he says. \u201cWe brought back complete sets of materials, standard operating procedures and processes \u2013 which became our \u2018operational bible\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Jan (back row, far right) with his Taipei colleagues at Taoyuan International Airport, before their flight to Singapore in 1990. It was his first time leaving Taiwan.<\/p>\n PHOTO: COURTESY OF TRTC\u2019S JAN WEN-TAU<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Today, the Taiwanese metro network is one of the world\u2019s most efficient and reliable train systems in the world. <\/p>\n Rail reliability is typically measured through mean kilometres between failures (MKBF), which reflects how far a train travels before it encounters a delay of more than five minutes.<\/p>\n Based on the latest publicly available data collated by Singapore\u2019s Land Transport Authority, TRTC\u2019s network clocked 23 million car-km in 2024. Singapore\u2019s MRT network recorded 8.4 million car-km between March 2025 and February 2026.<\/p>\n Taipei Metro, launched in 1996, is one of the world\u2019s most reliable train systems today.<\/p>\n PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Mr Jan was speaking to The Straits Times on the sidelines of the Metro Alliance meeting at Bishan Depot \u2013 the same depot where he had trained 36 years ago. The sixth biannual meeting, from March 4 to 6, was hosted by SMRT for the first time.<\/p>\n The alliance brings together the Singapore MRT operator and five Taiwanese metro systems, including TRTC, in an ongoing exchange of knowledge and expertise.<\/p>\n The partnership rests on a willingness to share \u2013 not just successes, but setbacks too.<\/p>\n When severe flooding at Bishan MRT station occurred in October 2017, suspending services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton MRT stations for more than 14 hours, SMRT launched a review of what had gone wrong.<\/p>\n Enter a team of eight senior engineers from Taipei shortly after to learn and to help \u2013 a gesture of support that SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming acknowledged in his speech at the alliance meeting. <\/p>\n \u201cTaipei Metro responded immediately and offered invaluable support,\u201d he said, \u201cfor which we remain deeply grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming (right) with Taipei Metro president Huang Ching-shinn at SMRT\u2019s office. The two organisations have partnered for 36 years.<\/p>\n PHOTO: SMRT<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The feeling is mutual. \u201cThe reason Taipei Metro has achieved what it has in 30 years\u2026 the roots of that go back to when we came to Singapore to learn, brought everything back, and kept improving from there,\u201d says Mr Jan.<\/p>\n Mr Jan sees that same commitment to continuous improvement in SMRT. \u201cThat\u2019s a core principle for any metro (operator),\u201d adds Mr Jan, \u201cand it\u2019s very much aligned with what all of us in the alliance are trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n For Mr Stanley Ng, SMRT director of operations at Circle Line (CCL), this longstanding cooperation was met with candour he had not expected.<\/p>\n Mr Stanley Ng (right), SMRT\u2019s Circle Line director of operations, gives Taipei Metro\u2019s Mr Jan a tour of SMRT\u2019s proof-of-concept train at Bishan Depot.<\/p>\n PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In his first visit with his Taiwanese counterparts in September 2023, recalls Mr Ng, 48, a fatal incident had occurred in Taichung four months before the trip. A train had collided with a crane boom that fell onto the elevated tracks, killing one commuter and injuring 15.<\/p>\n Would it be \u201cawkward\u201d to talk about the issue, Mr Ng wondered then. But to his surprise, \u201cthe Taiwanese were very open in sharing about what had happened\u201d \u2013 what went wrong and what they learnt, he recalls. <\/p>\n It underscores the value of the partnership, with both sides bringing their experiences to the table. There is a lot to learn, even though their operating conditions might differ, says Mr Ng, who was the co-chair of SMRT\u2019s organising committee for the alliance meeting.<\/p>\n Senior leaders from SMRT and five Taiwanese operators at the Metro Alliance\u2019s sixth biannual meeting, hosted by SMRT in Singapore.<\/p>\n PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In 2024, SMRT became the first, and only, international operator to join the Metro Alliance. The alliance includes the operators of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung\u2019s metro systems.<\/p>\n Inviting SMRT to be part of the alliance was a \u201cnatural\u201d step, says Mr Huang Ching-shinn, president of Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC).<\/p>\n \u201cSMRT and TRTC have been long-term partners,\u201d says Mr Huang. He points to a relationship that dates back 36 years, when an initial group of eight Taiwanese engineers came to Singapore to learn how to run a metro system in 1990.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>
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