The Land Transport Authority has awarded a $136.8 million contract to Kawasaki Heavy Industries to supply 12 six-car trains for the North-South and East-West lines.
This is the final batch out of 57 new trains that will be put into service progressively on Singapore's oldest and most heavily-used MRT lines from next year.
The 12 trains will arrive in Singapore in early-2018, and will undergo testing before they are put into service around the middle of 2019.
These trains will be the first to have tip-up seats that will provide more flexibility onboard. They will also come with three rows of hanging straps, triplicated grab poles for standing passengers and dynamic route map display.
Together with additional trains for the North-East Line and Circle Line, 99 more trains will be added to the network between this year and 2019, expanding the fleet by almost 50 per cent.
Stockbroker Cole Cheong, 48, who has been using the MRT for over 20 years, said: "Well, it's certainly good news, but we shall see how much it will actually improve the level of crowdedness."
For the Circle Line, 12 new trains will join its existing fleet by the end of this year, while four would also be added to the North-East Line's fleet of 25 trains.
By the end of next year, all the new trains for the Circle and North-East lines would be fully deployed.
The 99 additional trains cost around $1.1 billion in total and the sum is borne by both the Government and the rail operators, the LTA said.
Christopher Tan
