Flood mitigation measures to be introduced at four locations on East-West Line

Rail operator SMRT will be introducing flood mitigation measures - put into place at the Bishan MRT station to prevent a repeat of October's flooding incident - at four other locations by April this year. The four locations - near the Lavender, Redhill, Kembangan and Expo stations on the East-West Line - are at tunnel portals, where above-ground tracks go into underground tunnels.

On 7^th October, flooding in the tunnels between the Braddell and Bishan MRT stations shut down a large section of the North-South Line for 14.5 hours, affecting 231,000 commuters.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan described the incident as 'sad' and 'embarrassing'.

The measures include the introduction of additional float switches, as well as the relocation of pump control panels to areas accessible to maintenance staff even during passenger train services, SMRT Building and Services Director Siu Yow Wee told the media on Wednesday (24^th January).

The control panels normally require staff to access the track, which could take up to 20 minutes, he added. "These (four new) locations are not as critical as they are above street level," said Mr. Siu, explaining that this allows rain water to drain off to surface drains.

In comparison, the track at Bishan is more flood-prone as it is below street-level. However, the additional measures are part of SMRT's overall efforts to enhance its flood-mitigation efforts, he added.

This includes the outsourcing of the maintenance of water pumps to the system manufacturer, water technology provider Xylem. With the firm taking over preventive maintenance work for the system, this will allow SMRT to take a supervisory role.

"With the October incident, we found there was a need to enhance our system to make it more robust," said Mr. Siu.

He added that measures introduced at Bishan included the installation of additional float switches as well as two radar sensors, which are able to measure water levels and send SMS alerts to SMRT staff in emergency situations.

Flood-prevention efforts are part of SMRT's overall rail maintenance and upgrading efforts, said Mr. Siu, which includes resignalling of the North-South and East-West lines, to ensure commuters experience better journeys. "We are committed to do this, but we need time," Mr. Siu said.