SMRT Task Force 50

Task Force 50 is an initiative introduced by the SMRT Corporation in January 2018 to form a dedicated team of standby bus drivers, ready to be deployed on the rail replacement services in the event of service disruption affecting SMRT lines.

The initial team of 50 bus drivers were gathered from Woodlands Transport Service, and Aedge Holdings under the contractual agreement. Operating in two shifts, SMRT maintains the constant standby of about 25 train drivers at any time during rail operating hours.

SMRT Buses and YourStudent is expected to double up the Task Force pool by mid-2018 to enable the standby force of 50 bus drivers at any time during operating hours, by supplementing the Task Force with its own drivers. These bus drivers form an immediate response force in the event that free shuttle buses are required in the event of train disruption.

Training & Activation
TF50 Bus Captains are familiarised with operating various common models of the bus fleet, such as the Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro. This, combined with the training on the use of New On-Board Bus Equipment (NOBE) as well as the Trapeze CFMS, allowed bus captains to attain the bus driver's vocational licence (BDVL) from the Singapore Bus Academy.

Drivers were trained on the full bus bridging services for the following SMRT operated train lines, in preparation for possible activation: A dedicated pool of TF50 buses is reserved for potential activation. During activation, TF50 drivers would be required for the potential bus bridging services, in addition to having more spare buses from the service. There are several buses that were withdrawn or replaced during these periods of time.
 * North South Line
 * East West Line
 * Circle Line
 * Downtown Line
 * Bukit Panjang LRT

These buses are mainly placed at the Ayer Rajah Bus Depot (ARBP), and Braddell Bus Depot (BRBP). These buses are leased to SMRT Buses / YourStudent as part of TF50 on the front windscreen (where ## are numbers between 01 and 50).