International Public Transport Security Conference 2026 Opening Ceremony - Speech by Mr Goh Pei Ming, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

Introduction

1. Commissioner of Police, distinguished guests – both local and overseas – a very good morning to all of you. It gives me great pleasure to be here with you at the inaugural International Public Transport Security Conference. I am delighted to see a distinguished gathering of more than 200 international and local participants attending this two-day conference, and to all our foreign guests, I wish you a good stay and I hope this trip is not just all about work, but also some time for you to take in the sights and sounds of Singapore. Your presence, all of you today, underscores our shared mission – keeping commuters safe. This conference is envisioned to be the first of many – a valuable multilateral platform for all like-minded countries to exchange domain knowledge, best practices, insights and engender collective thought leadership in relation to public transport security.

2. This intent is clearly captured in the theme for this conference, “Innovation and Partnerships for Safer Journeys”. This is a reflection of our shared commitment in enhancing public transport security through collaboration and technological advancement. Over the next two days, I look forward to hearing from our distinguished speakers from international law enforcement agencies, academia, and public transport operators on various topics including crime and terrorism, partnerships, and innovation.


Public Transport Security Challenges

3. This conference is timely, coming at a period when the security challenges around the world are increasingly complex. Across the world, we have witnessed attacks that underscore the importance of staying ahead of the curve. We have seen lone wolf attacks at key transport nodes, such as the stabbing incident in Taipei in December last year and the Huntingdon stabbing incident in November last year. We have also witnessed cybersecurity attacks on transport operators, disrupting railway operations, such as the one in France, disrupting France’s national railway company SNCF’s high-speed rail network. This was in January last year. No country around the world is immune to these threats and we must always be prepared, and it’s best that we work together.

4. In Singapore, more than 7 million commuters take the public transport on a daily basis. Hence, any attack on our public transport network would be catastrophic. Not only does it result, possibly, in the loss of lives, it will also threaten our social fabric, it will; affect our day-to-day sense of safety and security moving about, and erodes trust in the government.

5. Besides being ever vigilant, another key challenge that we need to deal with is the public transport system’s ability to cope with sudden surges in ridership. This is especially prominent during key national events such as the National Day Parade (NDP), as you saw in the video earlier, or during for example, the New Year’s Eve Countdown. During evets like that, you can see surges of up to hundreds of thousands of commuters, all at the same time. In Singapore, the Public Transport Security Command or TransCom fulfils this mission. They ensure that the safety and security of commuters plying our transport network, especially during such key events, are assured. They work hand-in-hand, closely, with all stakeholders and all partners to ensure this mission is successful. Of course, the main challenge is especially during the event dispersal period, where you have a sudden huge surge in demand on our transport networks. TransCom tells me they are able to do this successfully only becaus they have the strong support of all our public transport operator partners, through regular meetings and exchanges, the strategic deployment of the partners and officers at key transport nodes, as well as very robust contingency planning and public communications. The tragic incident in Itaewon, Korea in 2022, which resulted in more than 150 deaths, reinforces the critical importance of proactive crowd management in our transport nodes.

6. To ensure high levels of operational readiness and interoperability, our government agencies and transport operators review our processes regularly and put our systems to the test through regular exercises.

7. For instance, TransCom conducted Exercise Ferrovia which brought together over 250 inter-agency participants at Raffles Place MRT station, making it the largest security exercise in our public land transport network. The exercise was designed to validate the inter-agency coordination and response in dealing with terror attacks.

8. I am told that during this conference, there will also be a ground deployment exercise taking place tomorrow. This exercise will showcase our operational readiness and review response protocols with our key partners and stakeholders such as the joint response protocol for train disruptions and security incidents.


Innovation in Public Transport Security

9. Innovation and technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics, are transforming public transport security capabilities and daily operations. AI-powered surveillance systems enable real-time threat detection and swift response to potential incidents, while data analytics helps us to develop targeted crime prevention strategies through hotspot policing and identifying crime-prone timings.

10. TransCom also optimises its deployment by studying commuter ridership patterns and crime trends. This approach allows us to optimise our limited resources. Through strong cooperation between police, public transport operators, as well as our community, there has been a significant reduction in crime in our public transport networks last year. This is especially so in the domain of voyeurism, which has been a problem, and we have managed to bring it down last year. However, technology alone cannot address all safety and security concerns. Crimes such as molestation require immediate human intervention and community awareness to prevent and to respond effectively.


Partnerships for Enhanced Security

11. Strong partnerships between regulators, transport operators, and security agencies are fundamental to an effective security ecosystem. Beyond local partnerships, international partnerships enable the sharing of best practices and lessons learnt. TransCom reassures me that they regularly benchmark themselves against all leading law enforcement agencies and have also successfully adopted effective policing strategies. Examples include train clearance checks and station platform sweeps within our local operating landscape.

12. This conference will be an excellent platform for public transport stakeholders worldwide to share and to exchange best practices, to address the evolving challenges and more importantly, to achieve our common goal of safeguarding the journeys of all commuters.

13. Commuters play a significant role as well. Community buy-in and public vigilance is pivotal to our security efforts. We count on a vigilant public to be the first to spot suspicious activities and behaviours. In Singapore, we have a Riders-on-Watch scheme, you have seen it in the video earlier. The Riders-on-Watch scheme currently has more than 15,000 members. They serve as additional eyes and ears on the ground and keep the police informed of any suspicious activities that they spot. The importance of commuters’ involvement in ensuring the safety of our public transport network was further exemplified in the recent attack that we saw in Taiwan. It was thwarted not by security personnel alone, but also by the brave intervention of members of the public – ordinary commuters who stepped forward to protect fellow passengers.

14. Equally important is empowering bystanders to be able to intervene safely when witnessing inappropriate or unlawful behaviour. We must foster a culture where commuters look out for one another, where reporting to the police immediately is first instinct whenever they see something unlawful. This will help to build a safer environment for all of us.

15. We also prepare our public to respond effectively during security incidents. In Singapore, we have SGSecure. This is a community response to the threat of terrorism – a movement that builds community resilience and calls upon our multi-racial, multi-religious society to come together to safeguard Singapore and our way of life. Under the “Run-Hide-Tell” initiative, citizens are advised to evacuate to a safe area immediately if an attack happens, find a safe room to hide if evacuation is not possible, and inform the authorities about the incident when it is safe to do so.


The Path Forward

16. I am happy to see a very good turnout at this conference, and to learn that this conference will discuss crime fighting and counter terrorism strategies and public-private partnerships that could drive innovation and crime prevention initiatives in the public transport network. I am confident that the discussions over the next two days will lead to more partnerships and collaborations amongst all. I look forward to seeing this conference succeed and become a regular platform for all public transport stakeholders to come together regularly and continue this effective exchange.


Conclusion

17. To conclude, I wish you all a successful conference ahead. Have a great day. Thank you.