More noise barriers needed at 16 locations along MRT lines, LTA calls for tender

Singapore – The Land Transportation Authority (LTA) has announced on Friday (Dec 24) that it will be calling for a tender to install more railway noise barriers at 16 new locations along the North-South and East-West MRT lines. The chosen tender will be announced and awarded in July 2019.

This next phase marks the third part of the railway noise barriers programme. On the North-South line, some of the areas expecting this upgrade will be Jurong East, Gombak, Sembawang and Yishun. The East-West line installation includes areas such as Kembangan, Paya Lebar, Pasir Ris and Clementi. Once the design and off-site planning are finished, the noise barrier installation can begin, which is set for the third quarter of 2020.

Aside from noise barriers, the LTA will also be implementing alternative solutions such as installing noise-dampening wheels and concrete sleeper tracks to further minimize noise levels. The agency is working closely with train operators and manufacturers for this.

Once the 5.5km stretch of new noise barriers is in place, Singapore will have a total of 27km of barriers. These barriers reduce noise levels that passing trains make by 5-10 decibels. The National Environment Agency’s noise limit is 67 decibels on average per hour. Areas that exceed this limit, usually along elevated railway tracks, must install noise reduction measures.

The third phase is expected to be completed in 2030 while the second phase which was started in September of this year is set to be finished by 2020.

In order to help speed up the project, the North-South and East-West lines will be opened later and closed earlier which gives engineers and workers extra time to spend on the project.