SINGAPORE: Alstom has handed over the last of 106 six-car metro trainsets built to replace the fleets operated by SMRT Trains on the North-South and East-West lines.
Land Transport Authority awarded what was then Bombardier Transportation an initial S$827m contract for 66 Movia trainsets in July 2018. This was followed in September 2020 by a S$337·8m order for a further 40 trainsets to standardise the NSEWL fleet to provide economies of scale and simplify maintenance.
The trainsets were designed in Germany and manufactured by Changchun Alstom Railway Vehicles Co in China, with the programme also involving Alstom teams in Singapore and Sweden. The first sets entered service in June 2023.
The 90 km/h trains have Alstom’s Flexx Urban bogies, Mitrac propulsion systems and regenerative braking. There is step-free boarding and flexible multipurpose spaces for accessibility, with 220 seats in a longitudinal layout to support passenger flow and maximise capacity. Automatic track inspection cameras enable infrastructure condition monitoring during regular operations.
The trains incorporate design-for-disassembly principles, allowing materials and components to be separated more efficiently at the end of life to support resource recovery.
The handover of the final train ‘reflects the strength of our partnership with the Land Transport Authority and SMRT Trains’, said Yann Maixandeau, Alstom’s Managing Director for East Asia, on September 30. ‘Together, we have worked at designing a fleet to meet the needs of passengers and operators alike. The new trains delivered provide greater comfort, improved accessibility and the long-term performance required to support one of the world’s most heavily used metro networks.’
Source: rg