On track to be Singapore's rail custodian

Singapore

AFTER Singapore's MRT trains wind down at around midnight, Asia Rail Engineering's maintenance engineers step onto the tracks and work non-stop for nearly two-and-a-half hours. They replace timber sleepers, change out conductor rails, and install new tracks, so that the transport system is rejuvenated for yet another day's work.

Welcome to the society of ageing railways, where membership is permanent, says co-founder and engineering director Phillip Peachey. It is a never-ending cycle of rehabilitation, because tracks that have been put in all eventually age, adds the other co-founder and business director Manjit Sandhu.

The pair, with more than 60 years of civil engineering experience between them, first met in 2006 while working on the Boon Lay Extension project. Mr Sandhu was with infrastructure group Balfour Beatty at the time, when Mr Peachey was roped in as a consultant from his self-owned UK engineering firm to oversee installations. They met up several times throughout the next two years, find…