Singapore MRT rail network length to double by 2020

channelnewsasia.com -> app-pac.mica.gov.sg :

In a massive new investment, the government will pump in another S$20 billion on new rail lines and extensions islandwide, Transport Minister Raymond Lim announced Friday [25 Jan 2008]. This is over and above the S$20 billion the government has already committed for the on-going Boon Lay extension, the Circle Line and the Downtown Line.

The rail update is the second in a series of three major policy announcements in a sweeping review of the land transport network. A bus system overhaul was announced last week. When the plans come to fruition in 2020, there will be one MRT station within five minutes' walk in the city, in a network that will be comparable to cities like New York and London, and surpassing Hong Kong and Tokyo.

There are currently 138 kilometres of rail lines. By 2020, authorities hope to double the network length to 278 km and expect it to carry three times as many journeys, from today's 1.4 million a day to 4.6 million in 2020. Two new lines will be built - the Thomson Line and the Eastern Region Line. Existing lines will also be extended. The North-South Line will be extended 1 km to serve the Marina Bay area while the East-West Line will be extended another 14 km west into Tuas. To avoid long waiting time and crowded trains, there will be 93 additional train trips weekly during the morning and evening peaks.

- This is a good initiative and not just from a convenience point of view. It will create jobs, the extra $20 billion will provide fiscal stimulus for the economy, and the hope is, when the new lines are operational, they will help to reduce fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions as people are encouraged to switch from driving [conventional] cars.

However, being a peakoiler, I will also look at this from a peak oil point of view. By 2010, by ASPO's estimate, global oil production is expected to have peaked, and global natural gas a few years after that. 80% of Singapore's electricity is generated from natural gas from primary suppliers Malaysia (peaking soon, and running out by 2020) and Indonesia (already a net crude oil importer, and actually building their very own LNG import terminal!).

By 2012, our LNG terminal is expected to be complete, just in time to participate in the global bidding war for the precious LNG cargo shipments plying the oceans. Hence, by 2020, I would like to know just what the new railway trains are supposed to be running on, ultra-expensive imported LNG? That's Plan A. We need a Plan B up and running by then. Regular readers already know my preferred choice : nuclear energy, followed much later on by space-based solar power. We'll see.

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