LTA buys 17
new trains for North East Line, Circle Line
extensions
SINGAPORE: French train manufacturer Alstom will supply 17 of
Singapore’s new driverless MRT trains – six for the North East Line
(NEL) and 11 for the Circle Line (CCL) – under a S$250 million
contract awarded by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
LTA’s Chief Executive Ngien Hoon Ping said an open tender was held
from March to October 2017 and received only one bid due to the
small number of trains requested.
This will boost the NEL’s fleet by 14 per cent to 49 trains, said
LTA in a news release on Monday (Apr 30). For the CCL, the fleet
will increase by 17 per cent to 75 trains.
LTA’s purchase will cater for additional capacity on the two lines,
when their respective extensions are ready.
The 1.6km NEL extension, comprising Punggol Coast station, is
scheduled to begin service in 2023.
For the extension of the Circle Line, three new stations - Keppel,
Cantonment and Prince Edward – will close the Circle Line loop by
2025.
The trains will be manufactured and assembled in Alstom’s
manufacturing facility in Barcelona, before they are progressively
shipped to Singapore from 2020 for NEL and 2021 for the CCL
trains.
After that, the trains will undergo testing and commissioning
before being put into service when the extensions open, LTA
said.
PREDICTIVE MONITORING SYSTEMS INSTALLED
All 17 new trains will be equipped with “condition monitoring
systems” to gather data from equipment on the trains, LTA said. The
system enables the state of the equipment to be monitored
continuously and allows the operator to carry out predictive
maintenance instead of reactive or time-based maintenance for the
trains.
“It's not a standard feature (of the train model) ... but something
that we have asked for as we do want to have a better sense of the
health of the system. So from a requirement point of view, we have
made that a new requirement for all our new trains,” said Mr
Ngien.
For example, train doors may be fitted with sensors that monitor
the door motor’s current and force.
“Imagine if the data collected is out of the norm ... we ascertain
that this trend will lead to a failure, then the right maintenance
will need to come into play,” said director of rolling stock and
depot engineering Chia Choon Poh.
“The current collector shoes on the new CCL trains will also be
equipped with sensors to enable the operator to react promptly and
take necessary measures if any dislodgement is detected,” LTA
added.
In addition, two of the new CCL three-car trains will each be
fitted with an Automatic Track Inspection (ATI) system which
enables monitoring of the running rails, track equipment and
sleepers while the trains are in operation.
The ATI system supplements existing track inspection for timely or
more effective identification of rail and trackside components
which require maintenance, LTA said.
Older trains may also be retrofitted with these sensors selectively
depending on whether the trains can house them, Mr Ngien said.
Source: CNA/fs/hm(gs)