Happy Chinese New Year!

Singapore’s sixth rail depot, Gali Batu, will be completed and operational by July of this year. It is almost twice the size of the last depot at Kim Chuan, and should be able to hold up to 42 trains. More train berths will eventually be added to further increase its capacity. The Gali Batu depot is the first train depot to receive a Green Mark Gold Award, all thanks to its various green features such as the use of natural ventilation, as well as natural illumination.Pictures used for illustration purposes only.

As there may be a chance that non-playing motorists will misuse the privilege, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Lawrence Wong, said that they will not offer free parking facilities at sports venues island-wide. Several Members of Parliament (MPs) brought up the issue, and suggested free parking at sports facilities in a bid to promote the usage of the facilities. One of the MPs, Lim Biow Chuan, believed that parking should be free for the first 2 hours, whilst another, Nominated MP Benedict Tan, said that free parking should be offered during non-peak hours. Mr Wong justified his viewpoint by saying that they had “no compelling reason why we should skew our support in favour of those who drive to our sports facilities, compared to the many who get there using public transport”, and that the government has to ensure the effective usage of the limited resources.Pictures used for illustration purposes only.

The Government is currently working on implementing an electric car sharing scheme in 2016. The programme, which may cost the government up to $100 million in tax revenue, will allow electric cars to be registered without vehicular taxes for up to a decade. The estimation takes into consideration are the Open Market Value and Additional Registration Fee of said which adds up to close to $100,000 per car. These cars are road-tax exempt to, which works out to a loss of $16 million for 1,000 cars over a 10 year period. In order for the scheme to be successfully implemented and adopted, the operator has to build a network of charging stations, and they can apply for grants to cover the initial cost. As of today, nothing has been finalised yet, but the LTA has said that the amount of cost exemptions will only be confirmed post-tender.Pictures used for illustration purposes only.