Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded SMRT Trains the contract to operate the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) for an initial 9-year period. “Both SMRT Trains and SBS Transit submitted good quality proposals befitting of our aspirations for the TEL. After much careful consideration, we have assessed that SMRT Trains will be able to offer a higher level of service, as it has committed to invest heavily in predictive maintenance and manpower training. Even with this commitment, it was able to offer a more competitive price,” LTA Chief Executive Mr Ngien Hoon Ping said.
SMRT Trains received a higher quality score. In particular, its proposal featured a commitment to invest heavily in predictive and reliability-centred maintenance to enhance reliability. SMRT Trains’ proposal also included a strong staff development plan, including customer-oriented training, and tailored community engagement initiatives.
“SMRT Trains offered a more competitive price, as the total service fee over 9 years (USD 1.7 billion) quoted by SMRT Trains was about 30% lower than that quoted by SBS Transit. Overall, SMRT Trains’ proposal demonstrated more value-for-money,” LTA says. 
The TEL operator tender was called in February this year, and both existing rail operators, SBS Transit and SMRT Trains, were invited to participate. Tender submissions closed on 17 April 2017. The TEL will open in stages starting from 2019.
The TEL is Singapore’s most complex rail project to date. The 43 km TEL will add 31 new stations to the existing rail network, with 7 interchange stations linking the TEL to all 5 existing MRT lines. Besides enhancing connectivity between the north, central and eastern parts of Singapore, the TEL will strengthen the resilience of our rail network by providing alternative travel routes for commuters on other lines.
When fully operational in 2024, the TEL is expected to serve approximately 500,000 commuters daily in the initial years, with the figure rising to about one million commuters in the longer term.
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