LTA Seeks Camera-Based System to Improve Checks on Bt Panjang LRT

It hopes to more efficiently detect surface defects and misalignments of power rails

- Kok Yufeng

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has called for proposals to improve the way maintenance inspections are done for the Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (BPLRT) system, specifically with regard to specialized tracks that deliver electrical power to the trains.

The authority hopes to more efficiently detect surface defects and misalignments of the BPLRT's power rails.

It is seeking new and tailored solutions that can do so with accuracy and in real time using camera-based visual systems and data analytics.

In its call for solutions on July 11, LTA said power rail defects and misalignments, which occur through wear and tear, can lead to unintended electrical discharges, or what are called "flashover" events.

If serious, such flashover events can disrupt the LRT service as they can damage the power rail, running tracks and trains.

"It is not as common, but it's quite serious, so you don't want it to happen," said Associate Professor Yap Fook Fah, co-director of the Transport Research Centre at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

He told The Straits Times that flashover events can generate so much heat that they can melt insulators, and even metal. This can also cause electrical current to leak.

Today, inspections of the BPLRT's power rail system, which spans 16km, are done manually up to three times a week.

Maintenance staff carry out physical checks of different sectors of the 25-year-old LRT line, but they can do so only during overnight engineering hours.