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certain things can be made in china but definitely not train, we depend on it daily...made in china product are known to be LOUSY and not reliable...don noe what is the mgt thinking...get those fm Japan pls

(05-05-2013, 07:03 PM)xiang38 Wrote: [ -> ]certain things can be made in china but definitely not train, we depend on it daily...made in china product are known to be LOUSY and not reliable...don noe what is the mgt thinking...get those fm Japan pls

Food too.....

(05-05-2013, 07:03 PM)xiang38 Wrote: [ -> ]certain things can be made in china but definitely not train, we depend on it daily...made in china product are known to be LOUSY and not reliable...don noe what is the mgt thinking...get those fm Japan pls

Iphone??
PC?
laptop?
dolce gusto coffee machine?

Let's be rational. The problem is not the country of procurement. The question now is whether SMRT has the ability to assess the quality of procurement. If the technical team is not capable of making a good assessment(as in the case of London taxi) beyond $price, then the probability of non-reliable train is high.

Malaysia paid a grand sum of money to procure scorpene submarines from France and the submarines cannot even submerge initially when they returned to malaysia.
Is France's equipment lousy?? not really.
Then the reason?? the procurement team is not technically proficient enough or did not bother to assess or demand for proper testing and evaluation.

True. The next train carriages for Downtown Line and Circle Line will be made from China (via MIDAS Holdings) as well. Does it mean that SBS transit is also undercutting? I seriously doubt so

DTL Supplier:
rolling stock - Bombardier
Signaling system - Westinghouse
Control and Comms System - STE

I am not sure why the trains are coming from Changchun, but according to wikipedia, Bombardier has a joint venture company there. Midas is probably just supplying the frames for the Rolling Stock.

(03-05-2013, 05:52 PM)KopiKat Wrote: [ -> ]Each time I go thro' a BEAR market, I'd looked at my Stocks Portfolio, mostly submerged in a sea of red and I'd tell myself what are the stocks that I ought to get rid of. These are the ones that'd dropped the most and rightfully so as they have the worst fundamentals (Poor stocks picking skills always comes to light during a bear run - what Warren Buffett meant when he says 'When the tide goes down, we'll know who's swimming naked').

But, somehow or rather, when the market recovery comes along, I'd drag my feet... Most of the past mistakes never recover. Dropping to 0.5ct may not be the end of my agony as they can still do a reverse split and then proceed to drop to 0.5ct...

After the last BEAR in 2011, when the market rebounded strongly, I finally plucked up the courage and strength to get rid of my junks which I'd accumulated over the past couple of decades. If you'd ever tried Bungee Jumping, it's like the moments before you jump.... Want to do, don't want to do, flip-flop between the two. When the rope is finally tied to the legs, there's a moment that seems like eternity....

But, yes, like Bungee Jumping, once you take the leap, you realise that it wasn't that difficult after all. In fact, it's actually quite fun!

So, last year, after overcoming the mental difficulties to sell off my first few junks, I continued spring cleaning and today, am cleared of almost all junks (left a couple where I'd need to top up the brokerage fee if I were to sell).

Yes, the amount I got back are mostly a couple of hundreds or a thousand plus. It also did severe damage to my Realised P&L - huge realised losses. But, fortunately, there was little impact on my Net Worth as I'd always been diligently marking my assets to market value.

But, like the above sentences I'd lifted from the article, clearing my Mental Garbage for stocks had freed me from all the past baggages (that I'd been lugging along) and I'm now a lot more focussed and decisive, when it comes to Stocks.

Hope the above helps all those with the same predicament..

Hi KopiKat, your message resonates with me so well it seems like a mirror reflection of my past. Only a person who has experienced the ups and downs of stock market can write such thing. Thank you for sharing. I still have some more spring cleaning to do, and it is already summer now!

More info from SGXNet link below...

IMO, it is a win-win for all to speed-up the process. Win for commuters for a more reliable daily trip, win for LTA for getting less blames, and win for SMRT to reduce the public pressure for a better deal in new partnership with LTA...

http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument

SMRT to step up sleeper replacement

SINGAPORE — Stretches of the North-South and East-West lines (NSEWL) could be partially closed until as late as noon on Sundays in order to accelerate sleeper replacement works that are currently underway.

The replacement works were scheduled for completion by 2019 but are now expected to be finished by 2016, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT joint task said at a media briefing today (May 14).

The team was tasked with looking into reducing disruptions and increasing reliability of the NSEWL.

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/smr...eplacement

So how much of this overhaul would be borne by SMRT? Would this represent huge impending capex in future years?

The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.com
Published on Jun 01, 2013
Rail overhaul: SMRT in talks with LTA
By Royston Sim

SMRT said it has begun talks with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on a complete overhaul of what it called an "ageing" rail network.

The operator added that its priority was the North-South Line, which has the oldest parts of the track. It was on this line that a rail crack delayed train services on Thursday for up to 40 minutes.

Preliminary investigations found that the latest problem was caused by corrosion, unlike two recent incidents on the same line which involved welded joints.

This, said SMRT's vice-president for corporate marketing and communications Kalai Natarajan, is "symptomatic of an ageing rail infrastructure". She warned that similar cracks can happen again.

"Engineers do not preclude similar incidents from happening in future," she said, adding that the rail infrastructure is experiencing the effects of wear and tear.

Before the three incidents, which happened in the space of five weeks, there was an average of only one rail crack per year.

SMRT is working with LTA to accelerate the replacement of the third rail system, which supplies power to trains. But it is also "critical" to look into changing portions of the running rail on which trains travel, which are almost 30 years old, Ms Natarajan said, adding: "This overhaul is seen as absolutely necessary for system safety and reliability moving forward."

It is believed additional replacement works could mean more planned closures on weekends.

When contacted, an LTA spokesman said the authority will "work closely with SMRT on the upgrading of the rail system".

After investigating Thursday's incident, engineers found that a corroded strip of metal in contact with the rail had caused the underside of the rail to weaken, and eventually crack. SMRT discovered the crack between Yio Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio stations at 6.25am. It put clamps in place to stabilise the rail, and ordered trains to run more slowly along the affected track.

Ms Natarajan said that in this case, routine tests, including one which uses ultrasound, had failed to detect the defect as it had occurred under the rail.

She also noted that the latest rail crack is "markedly different" in nature from the previous two, as it occurred on a non-welded portion of the rail.

The previous cases, on April 29 and May 18, involved joints welded between old and new rails located on a curved track.

When asked what action SMRT would take to identify defects that could not be detected by ultrasound, she said visual checks would be stepped up across the entire network.

roysim@sph.com.sg

correct me if I am wrong.

I thought rail tracks are properties of LTA? only rolling stocks and certain platforms are properties of SMRT?

(01-06-2013, 12:48 PM)freedom Wrote: [ -> ]correct me if I am wrong.

I thought rail tracks are properties of LTA? only rolling stocks and certain platforms are properties of SMRT?

Yes, you are not wrong.