Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company, said it has joined hands with SMRT Trains, the pioneer mass rapid transit operator in Singapore, for the implementation of a predictive decision support system (PDSS) for the North-South and East-West lines, the oldest MRT lines in the country.
 
SMRT Trains’ PDSS, which is based on Bentley’s AssetWise Linear Analytics, contributes to improving the reliability of the two lines across 282 kilometers of track and has helped SMRT Trains achieve more than 1 million kilometers between failure (MKBF). MKBF is a measure of reliability used by train operators around the world, where a failure is defined as a service delay of more than five minutes.
 
Based on the success of the PDSS implementation on the North-South and East-West lines, SMRT Trains has started the implementation of the PDSS solution on the Circle Line (CCL) in Singapore.
 
With many owner-operators of large metro networks in Asia Pacific cities focusing on improving reliability to provide uninterrupted services to riders, Bentley Systems has signed a MoU with Strides Engineering (previously SMRT Services), a business arm of SMRT Corporation that provides a range of station-based engineering services, to jointly market a rail predictive maintenance solution in the Asia Pacific region. 
 
The agreement establishes a partnership between the two companies that combines strong technology expertise and rail operational capabilities to help urban rail and metro operators. 
 
Under the terms of the MoU, both organisations will market a rail predictive maintenance solution that visualises all rail asset information and manages, monitors, and analyzes rail conditions. 
 
Bentley Systems will continue to sell, implement, and support its AssetWise solution while Strides Engineering will market and deliver its domain experience and add-on applications for track maintenance. 
 
SMRT Trains will be featured in an Infrastructure Spotlight Series webinar in November as a part of Bentley Systems’ Year in Infrastructure 2021 presentations highlighting advancements in going digital. 
 
Lam Sheau Kai, the President of SMRT Trains, said: "Leveraging technology and taking pre-emptive actions are two very important components in the plan to help us improve and maintain rail reliability for the train lines SMRT Trains operates. PDSS represents both components, and its successful implementation for the North-South and East-West lines has given us much confidence to scale it for the rest of our lines."
 
Commenting on the new partnership, Gan Boon Jin, the President of Strides Engineering, said: "Strides Engineering’s collaboration with Bentley Systems on the PDSS demonstrates a firm partnership in combining strong domain and rail operational capabilities with proven technological expertise."
 
"The PDSS will enhance and optimize decision-making in rail maintenance. We look forward to bringing the best practices and results of PDSS to other train operators in the region," he added. 
 
Kaushik Chakraborty, vice president, Bentley Asia South, said, “We are extremely happy and honored to partner with Strides Engineering to forward our common objective of advancing infrastructure."
 
"With our combined strengths and industry experience, we will empower rail and metro operators in the region to improve reliability of the infrastructure that serves citizens and residents,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service