LTA to replace all turnstile fare gates with automatic retractable ones

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) plans to replace all the turnstile gates - which are used only on the Bukit Panjang LRT line - with automatic retractable ones, reported The Straits Times.

This is in "anticipation of (the) higher passenger load" with the opening of Downtown Line 2 (DTL2) on Dec 27^th, a spokesman told The Straits Times.

About 55,000 people a day use the Bukit Panjang LRT system, but this is expected to rise when commuters are able to change lines at the Bukit Panjang Station to the DTL2, which will take them directly to the city.

Commuters must tap their cards on a reader and then push the turnstile to pass through, a less efficient system than the automatic fare gantries. The spokesman added, "With the new retractable fare gates, commuters will enjoy a more consistent user experience across the different MRT/LRT lines."

Some automatic fare gates on the North-South, East-West and North-East MRT lines, as well as on the Sengkang and Punggol LRT lines are in need of being modernised or replaced. Development and testing of the new fare gates is expected to start from the second quarter of next year, before the system is launched progressively from the third quarter of 2017. The project is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2018.