First JRL train arrives in Singapore; has wider doors, smaller carriages: LTA

SINGAPORE – The first train for the upcoming 24km-long Jurong Region Line (JRL), which will connect key areas in the west of Singapore, has arrived in the Republic.

Manufactured in South Korea by Hyundai Rotem, it is one of 62 three-car trains that will be plying Singapore’s seventh MRT line.

These trains can be expanded to four cars to meet an increase in commuters if necessary, according to the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) website.

Some of its features include wider doors and carriage spaces to better accommodate wheelchair users and commuters with strollers.

Although the carriage spaces are wider, the carriages themselves are smaller “to better navigate the tight curves of the JRL tracks”, LTA said in a Facebook post on Sept 25 showcasing the train’s arrival.

Land Transport Guru – an independent website focusing on the public transport system – shared a YouTube video showing train carriages being transported on trailer trucks. The carriages have the same colour scheme as the new JRL trains, and the video was posted on Sept 17.

The other 61 trains will be delivered to Singapore from now until 2028, with the JRL slated to open in phases

between 2027 and 2029

.

The sole train here, meanwhile, will be put through system integration tests at Tengah Depot to prepare it for service.

Spanning 24 stations that are above ground, the JRL will be operated by a joint venture between train operator SBS Transit Rail and French transport company RATP Dev Asia Pacific, marking the

first time that a foreign operator will be involved

in Singapore’s rail industry.

During the debate on the Transport Ministry’s budget in March, then Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat announced that an extension will be built to connect the JRL to the Cross Island Line (CRL) and Circle Line (CCL).

Termed the

West Coast Extension

, the first phase will see the JRL’s Pandan Reservoir station linked with the CRL’s West Coast station by the late 2030s.

The second phase will connect the JRL from West Coast station to the CCL’s Kent Ridge station by the early 2040s.

Mr Chee had said that the expansion will improve connectivity in the west, and shave up to 20 minutes off journeys from western Singapore to the city centre.

When it was

mooted in 2015

, the initial plan was for the extension of the JRL to join the CCL at Haw Par Villa station.

However, Kent Ridge station was determined to be more optimal, after factors such as projected transport demand and future developments were considered, said LTA.