SINGAPORE – Another eight two-carriage trains will be added to the Sengkang-Punggol LRT (SPLRT) fleet to boost the line’s capacity.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on Tuesday said it received an order from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the eight SPLRT trains, which are in addition to a previous order for 17 two-car trains MHI received from LTA in January 2022.
The contract for the additional eight trains is valued at about $87 million, LTA said.
The new order of the two-car trains will be progressively delivered from the second half of 2027.
In February 2022, the LTA announced that it awarded a $439 million contract to a consortium made up of Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Asia Pacific for 17 two-car trains that will be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2027.
The contract also covers the provision of a signalling system, guideway system and depot equipment.
The latest order of eight two-car trains will replace half of the existing fleet of 16 two-car trains, while the earlier order of 17 two-car trains will replace 25 one-car trains. The SPLRT network will have 33 two-car trains in future.
The Straits Times previously reported that each train car can accommodate 105 passengers.
The Sengkang-Punggol train depot – located above the North East Line (NEL) depot in Sengkang – is also being expanded from 3.5ha to 11.1ha. It will include a new train stabling area and a new maintenance workshop, as well as two new reception tracks which will shorten the trains’ launching time.
The expansion will also see enhanced power supply systems to support the operations of the additional trains, along with the addition of three new traction power stations to the existing five for improved traction power.
The LRT network connects the residential areas of Sengkang and Punggol to the NEL MRT stations. The Sengkang LRT was opened in 2003, while the Punggol LRT came into service in 2005.
MHI said the network’s capacity is being increased to “accommodate the growing use of its branch lines, given local population growth in recent years”. According to a 2022 report by SBS Transit, the SPLRT recorded a 26.6 per cent increase in average daily ridership to 135,675 passenger trips post-pandemic.
Mr Kenji Terasawa, chief executive and head of engineering solutions at MHI Engineering, said: “We are honoured to contribute to this expansion project and look forward to continuing our partnership with LTA to provide safe and reliable transportation for people in Singapore.”
Correction note: An earlier version of the story stated that the SPLRT network will have a total of 41 two-car trains in the future. The Land Transport Authority has clarified that the network will have 33 two-car trains, as the latest order of eight new trains will replace half of the existing fleet of 16 two-car trains.
