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Thales, SMRT to share digital technologies

 

Thales and Singapore operator SMRT Trains have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate and leverage digital technologies such as data analytics to enhance rail maintenance and operations on the SE Asian nation’s oldest MRT lines – the North-South and East-West lines, including the Tuas West Extension.

Under the MoU, both parties will share engineering knowledge and rail expertise in various areas, and leverage digital technologies such as data analytics and Artificial Intelligence to unleash the full potential of the diagnostic data readily available within the existing signalling and rail systems.

By efficiently mining such data, including train control, supervision and radio communication diagnostic data, SMRT can benefit from greater efficiencies in the maintenance of the trains and systems.

The time needed to analyse and identify the root cause of potential faults will be reduced; automatic fault diagnosis will be enabled for accurate and timely data-driven maintenance; and reliability can be enhanced with faults pre-empted.

To ensure that the collaboration remains focused on real challenges and pain points of the end-user, the SMRT engineering teams will bring common problem statements to be addressed from a rail operator’s perspective, which both teams can work on.

Thales brings its expertise as a technology partner with its in-depth knowledge in Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling and rail control systems, and best practices in data analytics technologies.

Witnessed by the Chairmen of both organisations, Patrice Caine of Thales Group and Seah Moon Ming of SMRT, the signing ceremony also marked the 10th anniversary of the collaboration between Thales and SMRT Trains.

Their decade-long journey saw the implementation of the renowned SelTrac CBTC signalling system for the North-South and East-West line, and has forged a close understanding and cooperation between both organisations where they worked as a team to provide reliable journeys to Singapore’s rail commuters.