SINGAPORE — Noise barriers will be installed along elevated MRT railway tracks at 20 locations across Singapore, including Tampines, Jurong East and Ang Mo Kio, as part of on-going efforts to reduce noise levels near residential areas.
On Friday (June 2), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it is calling a tender for an additional 10km of railway noise barriers to be installed at 20 new locations along the North-South and East-West Lines.
The tender is expected to be awarded by the third quarter of this year. On-site works are expected to begin from middle of next year, and the project is expected to be completed by 2020.
Once completed, the barriers are expected to reduce railway noise levels by five to 10 decibels. The LTA says residents living near the MRT tracks residents “can look forward to an improved living environment”.
The authority has already completed installing about 8.5km of railway noise barriers at 16 locations across the island under the first phase of its railway noise barriers programme, with another 3km of barriers, at nine locations, expected to be completed by 2018.
Priority had been given to stretches along elevated railway tracks where noise levels exceed the National Environment Agency’s recommended guideline of 67 decibels averaged over an hour.
Installing the railway noise barriers is a complex process, said the LTA, which involves extensive retrofitting of existing railway structures. Therefore, works are carried out after passenger service hours to minimise inconvenience to commuters.
The authority has also been working with train manufacturers and operators to mitigate railway noise in other ways, such as fitting trains with noise-dampening wheels, using ballast and concrete sleepers on the tracks to enable better absorption of noise, and servicing the train wheels and tracks more frequently.
