Latest news with #Tengah
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Self-driving public buses will operate in Punggol by Q4 2025
Self-driving public buses will ply the neighbourhood of Punggol by the start of the fourth quarter of 2025, as Singapore looks to kick-start an autonomous vehicle push. Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow made this announcement on 27 Jun during a working visit to Guangzhou, China, weeks after he laid out broad plans to ramp up self-driving vehicle deployments in the next 5 years to strengthen Singapore's public transport system. Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling, who was also in Guangzhou, said a couple of early routes in Punggol are being considered, based on feedback from residents. Mr Siow said Punggol was chosen as the launch pad as it is a relatively new estate with 'mature' travel patterns and road infrastructure. If the Punggol routes are successful, the authorities will then look to deploy the vehicles in other estates at the start of 2026, with Tengah the next location in mind. Mr Siow said the Ministry of Transport (MOT) is in the midst of holding talks with potential operators and autonomous vehicle makers and finalising of the details of the pilot scheme. These include public transport operators in Singapore – some of which have partners in China – and American self-driving taxi firm Waymo, whose executives Mr Siow and his colleagues will meet soon. In the short term, the self-driving buses will provide short, fixed-route services to various points within Housing Board estates. This will help supplement regular public bus services. In the medium term, this could be expanded to include services constrained by labour today, such as night buses, which can be run more frequently with driverless vehicles. The Acting Minister added that the deployment of the shuttles will be done in steps and the vehicles will not ferry any passengers until residents and road users are more comfortable. Mr Siow and Ms Sun emphasised that safety will be the priority. Hence, the autonomous vehicles will have a safety officer on board and be clearly identifiable by a bright colour. The vehicle speed will also be 'manageable' and not 'super fast', added Mr Siow. The hope is that the autonomous shuttles can start taking passengers by the end of 2025. Punggol's newest mall has 120 stores with over 20 F&B outlets like White Cloud Cafe & Nayana K-Pop Restaurant The post Self-driving public buses will operate in Punggol by Q4 2025 appeared first on
CNA
08-06-2025
- CNA
Priority is to strengthen transport networks, reduce travelling time: Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow says his priority will be to cut down travel time for Singaporeans, especially those living far from the city. For instance, Tengah and Brickland residents will see a new trunk service begin this August, improving connectivity to transport nodes. It's one of eight new bus services to ply the towns by the end of next year. Mr Siow adds that connectivity in the area will also improve when the Jurong Region Line is completed in the next few years. He also expects autonomous shuttles to be used within Tengah in the next five years. Mr Siow was speaking to the media for the first time in his new role. Charlotte Lim with more.
CNA
08-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
2 new bus services in Tengah and Brickland by year-end, 6 more in 2026: Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow
SINGAPORE: Eight new bus services will be introduced in Tengah and Brickland by the end of next year to help ease residents' connectivity woes, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow on Sunday (Jun 8). Complaints on the lack of amenities and transport options have arisen among early residents of Tengah, a new HDB town located in the west of Singapore. The first two bus services will be rolled out by the end of this year. Service 872, which will start from Tengah Bus Interchange and serve areas like Tengah Boulevard, Plantation Crescent, Bukit Batok, Jurong Town Hall and Chinese Garden MRT, is slated to start on Aug 10. The other service will start from Brickland and pass through Bukit Panjang and Jurong East MRT stations. More details will be announced at the start of the fourth quarter. By the end of next year, there will be two express services, one a city direct service from Brickland, and the other is a privately operated bus route from Brickland to the One-North area. There will also be four express feeder services by the end of 2026, which will take residents from their homes to nearby MRT stations, such as Beauty World, Bukit Gombak, Bukit Batok and Jurong East MRT stations. Mr Siow was at a People's Association family event at Tengah Community Club, where he was speaking to the media for the first time since assuming the transport minister role on May 23. He took over the position from Mr Chee Hong Tat, who is now the Minister for National Development. Mr Siow, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Brickland ward that is part of Tengah, touched on some issues faced by Tengah residents at Sunday's event. Mr Siow said in a speech to residents at the community club that there are four "C"s that the government hopes to address: not enough coffee shops, not enough childcare centres, not enough transport connectivity and concerns with the centralised cooling system in their HDB units. He said that the government is 'very focused' on tackling these issues, noting that a multi-agency committee has been set up to support those moving into new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats. He said that the chairman of the committee is Senior Minister of State Sun Xue Ling, who has appointments in both Ministry for National Development and the Ministry of Transport (MOT). 'So just be a little bit patient, because I know we are doing these things as residents are moving in, and it will become better, very, very soon,' he said. The Tengah Bus Interchange opened on Jul 21 last year. With it, a new service 871 was introduced to connect Tengah to Bukit Batok West, Bukit Gombak and Beauty World. Two existing bus services, 992 and 870, were also extended to better serve Tengah residents. WHY PRIVATE BUS SERVICE TO ONE-NORTH? On why a private bus service instead of a public one is being planned to take residents of Tengah to the One-North area, Mr Siow said that it is among the options that the government considers when looking to augment the bus framework. 'We try not to do it extensively and only really for niche routes, because when we run too many private routes, we run the risk of cannibalising demand for the public bus network,' he said. He said that there are certain routes with enough demand that a private operator is prepared to take up but public transport operators are 'not quite ready to do yet'. 'We can, in the short term, introduce some of these routes (and) if they work well, in the longer term, we can always consider incorporating them into the public bus network,' he said. As to why One-North, Mr Siow said that there is a demand from Brickland residents, as many of them work there. 'And so that's how we decided to trial and see,' he said. CUTTING DOWN PUBLIC TRANSPORT TRAVEL TIME There are also longer-term aims for the travel time to be narrowed between taking private and public transport, particularly for HDB estates 'a little bit further away from the city', said Mr Siow. He said that while trains can get people to the city quickly, getting to the train stations can be time-consuming for many of these residents. 'If we can try to do that a little bit better, improving the walkability of the town, improving the density of the bus network, we should be able to bring the journey times down and make public transport more competitive with private transport,' he said. He said that currently, the travel time from Tengah to the city is two to three times longer by public transport than it is for private transport, and he aims to cut it down to one to two times longer. 'And we will be doing that all across Singapore at the estates that are further away from the city, that is my priority,' he said. FIRST THOUGHTS ON NEW JOB Asked about how he is settling into his new role as acting transport minister, Mr Siow said that he is no stranger to the transport portfolio. 'I'm very excited, I've hit the ground running and we are working on how to get LTA's (the Land Transport Authority's) plans on track (and) continue to do the things we have been doing,' he said. Mr Siow held key appointments at the MOT, among others. 'Going back to the ministry has been very positive for me,' he said. 'I've been very happy to be able to reconnect with old colleagues, but also with the issues that I used to work on.' He said he had worked on the Jurong Region Line with the ministry, which is planned to operate through Tengah by 2028. 'When I was an officer at MOT 10 years back, it was a piece of paper, and now it's coming close to reality,' he said. 'These are the things that a lot of us at MOT and LTA are very inspired by, because we do things that matter to Singaporeans, and these are the tangible products of our work.'
CNA
08-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
8 new bus services in Tengah by end-2026: Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow
SINGAPORE: Eight new bus services will be introduced in Tengah by the end of next year to help ease residents' connectivity woes, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow on Sunday (Jun 8). Complaints on the lack of amenities and transport options have arisen among early residents of Tengah, a new HDB town located in the west of Singapore. The first two bus services will be rolled out by the end of this year. Service 872, which will start from Tengah Bus Interchange and serve areas like Tengah Boulevard, Plantation Crescent, Bukit Batok, Jurong Town Hall and Chinese Garden MRT, is slated to start on Aug 10. The other service will start from Brickland and pass through Bukit Panjang and Jurong East MRT stations. More details will be announced at the start of the fourth quarter. By the end of next year, there will be two express feeder services, one a city direct service from Brickland, and the other is a privately operated bus route from Brickland to the One-North area. There will also be four express services by the end of 2026, which will take residents from their homes to nearby MRT stations, such as Beauty World, Bukit Gombak, Bukit Batok and Jurong East MRT stations. Mr Siow was at a People's Association family event at Tengah Community Club, where he was speaking to the media for the first time since assuming the transport minister role on May 23. He took over the position from Mr Chee Hong Tat, who is now the Minister for National Development. Mr Siow, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Brickland ward that is part of Tengah, touched on some issues faced by Tengah residents at Sunday's event. Mr Siow said in a speech to residents at the community club that there are four "C"s that the government hopes to address: not enough coffee shops, not enough childcare centres, not enough transport connectivity and concerns with the centralised cooling system in their HDB units. He said that the government is 'very focused' on tackling these issues, noting that a multi-agency committee has been set up to support those moving into new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats. He said that the chairman of the committee is Senior Minister of State Sun Xue Ling, who has appointments in both Ministry for National Development and the Ministry of Transport (MOT). 'So just be a little bit patient, because I know we are doing these things as residents are moving in, and it will become better, very, very soon,' he said. The Tengah Bus Interchange opened on Jul 21 last year. With it, a new service 871 was introduced to connect Tengah to Bukit Batok West, Bukit Gombak and Beauty World. Two existing bus services, 992 and 870, were also extended to better serve Tengah residents. WHY PRIVATE BUS SERVICE TO ONE-NORTH? On why a private bus service instead of a public one is being planned to take residents of Tengah to the One-North area, Mr Siow said that it is among the options that the government considers when looking to augment the bus framework. 'We try not to do it extensively and only really for niche routes, because when we run too many private routes, we run the risk of cannibalising demand for the public bus network,' he said. He said that there are certain routes with enough demand that a private operator is prepared to take up but public transport operators are 'not quite ready to do yet'. 'We can, in the short term, introduce some of these routes (and) if they work well, in the longer term, we can always consider incorporating them into the public bus network,' he said. As to why One-North, Mr Siow said that there is a demand from Brickland residents, as many of them work there. 'And so that's how we decided to trial and see,' he said. CUTTING DOWN PUBLIC TRANSPORT TRAVEL TIME There are also longer-term aims for the travel time to be narrowed between taking private and public transport, particularly for HDB estates 'a little bit further away from the city', said Mr Siow. He said that while trains can get people to the city quickly, getting to the train stations can be time-consuming for many of these residents. 'If we can try to do that a little bit better, improving the walkability of the town, improving the density of the bus network, we should be able to bring the journey times down and make public transport more competitive with private transport,' he said. He said that currently, the travel time from Tengah to the city is two to three times longer by public transport than it is for private transport, and he aims to cut it down to one to two times longer. 'And we will be doing that all across Singapore at the estates that are further away from the city, that is my priority,' he said. FIRST THOUGHTS ON NEW JOB Asked about how he is settling into his new role as acting transport minister, Mr Siow said that he is no stranger to the transport portfolio. 'I'm very excited, I've hit the ground running and we are working on how to get LTA's (the Land Transport Authority's) plans on track (and) continue to do the things we have been doing,' he said. Mr Siow held key appointments at the MOT, among others. 'Going back to the ministry has been very positive for me,' he said. 'I've been very happy to be able to reconnect with old colleagues, but also with the issues that I used to work on.' He said he had worked on the Jurong Region Line with the ministry, which is planned to operate through Tengah by 2028. 'When I was an officer at MOT 10 years back, it was a piece of paper, and now it's coming close to reality,' he said. 'These are the things that a lot of us at MOT and LTA are very inspired by, because we do things that matter to Singaporeans, and these are the tangible products of our work.'
CNA
19-05-2025
- CNA
Foreign worker crushed at Tengah worksite did not follow colleague's instructions: Coroner
SINGAPORE: A foreign worker who died after his chest was crushed at a worksite in Tengah did not follow his colleague's instructions, a coroner's inquiry found on Friday (May 16). Mr Ponraman Eazhumalai, 23, was crushed by machinery on a truck operated by the same colleague, who did not notice him before the accident happened. The Indian national suffered the fatal injury on Dec 2, 2023, at a worksite for the upcoming Tengah integrated rail and bus depot in Jurong Road. Coroner Brenda Chua found there was no evidence of foul play in his death, attributing it to a work-related accident. Mr Eazhumalai was an assistant pump operator at TMC Concrete Pumping Services and his colleague was a concrete pump truck operator. The two had completed their concrete casting work at about 10.50pm that night, and were preparing to retract the machinery on the truck when the accident happened. Mr Eazhumalai's colleague retracted the hydraulic jack of the right outrigger, or stabilising leg, at the back of the truck, and instructed him not to remove the metal plates that were placed on the ground below the hydraulic jacks, coroner Brenda Chua found. His colleague proceeded to close the rear right outrigger while retracting the hydraulic jack for the outrigger at the truck's front right. Since he was looking at the front right hydraulic jack, he did not realise that Mr Eazhumalai had collected the metal plate at the back of the truck, contrary to his instructions. The 23-year-old Indian national was placing the plate onto the truck after collecting it, and was eventually caught between the machinery and the truck. Mr Eazhumalai shouted, and his colleague turned around and saw that he was stuck. The colleague immediately opened the outrigger to release Mr Eazhumalai, who walked and collapsed forward, sustaining abrasions to his forehead and nasal bridge, Judge Chua found. The colleague who was operating the truck and another worker who was nearby rendered assistance to him. While he was conscious, responsive and did not seem to have any severe visible injuries, he had difficulty breathing. He was sent to Farrer Park Hospital with a severe chest crush injury, with bleeding in both lungs. He died in the hospital about 18 hours later. The company's operations manager said during the inquiry that Mr Eazhumalai was supposed to collect the plates only after all the outriggers were retracted. According to the company's safe work processes, the operator of the truck must also be responsible for safety in the working area when the machine is in use. For example, the operator must look at the outrigger while closing it to ensure no one is standing between the machinery and the truck. Mr Vellaisamy had not looked at the machinery or noticed Mr Eazhumalai, though the latter was within his visual field and wearing a bright yellow reflective vest, the court heard. At the time of the inquiry, the Ministry of Manpower was considering taking enforcement actions against the parties involved. Court documents did not state which parties these were. Mr Eazhumalai's family members had initial concerns about why he was not sent to a hospital nearer to the worksite. In response, Judge Chua noted that he was brought to the hospital in a conscious and responsive state. The 23-year-old survived for several hours, going through imaging and other procedures before he passed away, she added. 'As such, it did not appear that the time difference taken to travel to a further hospital within Singapore … would have significantly contributed to his death.'
