it caused him dizziness. According to one commentator, his comment implies that his predecessor Mah Bow Tan erred in approving the LRT system and trivialises the work and contribution of railway engineers. Most critically, the commentator implied that the PAP government had succumbed to pressure and spent hundreds of millions of dollars without serious consideration and robust planning. Future plans In 2016, SMRT and LTA announced plans to completely overhaul the line as the system approached its designated lifespan of 20 years, with the other factor being the aging CX-100 train cars which was only being used in two transit systems by then, the other being Miami MetroMover. On 8 March 2017, it was announced that the system's power supply, signalling, rolling stock, track, stations, new signalling system and upgrading would be upgraded. The authority ruled out scrapping the entire system or changing to automated guided vehicles drawn on self-power as it would cause major traffic congestion. On 3 October 2017, a tender for the revamp was called. To improve service reliability in the interim period, SMRT begin operations at 7am, instead of 5.30am, on all Sundays from 12 November 2017 until the end of that year. In a statement on 5 November 2017, SMRT said that this allows for an additional 1.5 hours for maintenance to the existing two hours. On 7 March 2018, the Land Transport Authority awarded the contract to Bombardier Transportation for $344 million on upgrading the system. This includes replacing the line's signalling system with the new Communications-Based Train Control system for a tighter headway between each trains and thus, reducing waiting time. 19 first-generation trains will be replaced while 13 second-generation trains will be refurbished. The upgrade is slated to be completed by 2024. Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan had said that the authority was considering shutting down the system for a few years to complete the overhaul. He told reporters at a press briefing: "If we want to do serious upgrading — essentially to close it down so that we can re-do the whole tracks and so on, so that we don’t have these ups and downs. And we’re evaluating that proposition". This was not done as SMRT decided to proceed with an alternative plan to reduce operating hours instead during the system renewal. Ten Mile Junction station was also closed due to low demand, with the station reused as a testing station