SINGAPORE operator SMRT Trains and Thales have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate and leverage digital technologies to enhance maintenance and operations on the North-South and East-West metro lines.
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 (AI) to maximise the potential of diagnostic data available from existing signalling and rail systems.
Thales says that by efficiently mining train control, supervision and radio communication diagnostic data, SMRT can benefit from greater efficiencies in the maintenance of its trains and systems. Possible improvements include:
- reducing the time needed to analyse and identify the root cause of potential faults
- enabling automatic fault diagnosis for accurate and timely data-driven maintenance, and
- improving reliability by predicting faults.
The SMRT engineering teams will identify common problem areas to ensure the partnership remains focused on real challenges and pain points for the end user. Thales brings its expertise as a technology partner with its in-depth knowledge in CBTC and rail control systems, and best practices in data analytics technologies.
“Through our partnership with Thales, we are excited to work towards developing a data-based approach to improve our train lines’ reliability, as well as to take another step in transforming SMRT Trains into an information-rich and fully digitalised company,” says Mr Lam Sheau Kai, president of SMRT Trains. “With SMRT’s experience in operating and maintaining train networks and Thales’ expertise in signalling systems, the collaboration will enhance the efficiency of our rail maintenance regime.”
