SMRT Trains

SMRT Trains Limited

A C151 train operated by SMRT Trains.
Type	Public
Industry	Public Transport Operator
Founded	Singapore (1987 (1987)) (as Mass Rapid Transit Corporation)
Headquarters	2 Tanjong Katong Road, #08-01, Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ 3), Singapore 437161
Area served	Singapore
Key people	Seah Moon Ming (Chairman) Lee Fook Sun (Deputy Chairman, Trains) Neo Kian Hong (Group CEO) Lam Sheau Kai (President, Trains)
Services	Railways
Parent	SMRT Corporation
Website	www.smrttrains.com.sg

SMRT Trains Limited is a rail operator in Singapore and a wholly owned subsidiary of SMRT Corporation. After the privatisation of the MRT operations in 1995, it was originally named Singapore MRT Limited. On 31 December 2001, it was renamed to SMRT Trains Limited, so as not to confuse with another MRT line - North East MRT Line that is under Singapore Bus Services and the bus operations merged from Trans-Island Bus Services. At the same time, Singapore Bus Services was renamed to SBS Transit to be multi-modal. SMRT Trains currently manages most of the MRT services in Singapore except the North East Line and Downtown Line.

History[]

SMRT Trains Limited was incorporated as the rail subsidiary arm of the parent company SMRT Corporation, to oversee rail operations brought over from the previously state-owned Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC).

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC)[]

The Singapore MRT Limited was incorporated on 6 August 1987, and signed the licence and operating agreement (LOA) with MRTC, a government-run corporation till 1997. On 7 November 1987, MRTC started services on Singapore's first MRT section, consisting of five stations from Yio Chu Kang to Toa Payoh. When the MRTC merged to form LTA on 1 Sep 1995, operations of the MRTC were hived off into SMRT Corporation. On 1998, the light rail operation was formed and was called Singapore LRT Limited. On 31 December 2001, both Singapore MRT Limited and Singapore LRT Limited were merged into the present name, SMRT Trains.

Transition to New Rail Financing Framework (NRFF)[]

On 15 July 2016, SMRT Trains and its subsidiary SMRT Light Rail concluded discussions on the transition of the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL), the Circle Line (CCL) and the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) to the New Rail Financing Framework (NRFF). The framework, announced by the Government in 2008 under the Land Transport Master-plan, was introduced as an enhancement to the 1996 Rail Financing Framework, and was first implemented for the Downtown Line (DTL) in 2011.^[1] SMRT transited to a 15-year contract under the new framework from 1 October 2016, with the transfer of ownership of all its rail assets at a net value of $1.06 billion to the government.^[2]

Mass Rapid Transit[]

SMRT Trains currently operates a fleet consisting of six rolling stocks built on its two heavy rail lines (the North South Line and the East West Line) – namely C151, C651, C751B, C151A, C151B, C151C and CR151, identified by the relevant build contracts. In addition, it operates the C830 and C830C rolling stocks, which operates on the Circle Line. SMRT Trains is also licensed to operate the CT251 rolling stocks, which operates on the Thomson-East Coast Line. SMRT Light Rail operates the C801 and the C801A rolling stocks on the Bukit Panjang LRT Line. The C851E will be added to SMRT's fleet in tandem with the opening of the CCL6 line.^[3]

The main colour scheme for all trains are black with a red stripe. C651 is the only exterior with white and red stripes. C801 is the only exterior with green and red stripes. C151B and C801A are the only exterior with the new SMRT pixelated livery, which consist of white, red, black and yellow pixel livery. C151C and CR151 will bear the new LTA livery, which is black with green and red stripes. CT251 will also bear the new LTA livery, which is black with brown and yellow stripes.

Fleet[]

Name	Image	Type	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Trains built	Cars built	Cars per set	Lines served	Built	Numbers In Service	Introduction into service	Withdrawn from service
			Design	Service
C151		electric multiple unit	90	80	66	396	6	North South Line East West Line	1986 – 1989 2006 – 2009[nb 1]	62	7 November 1987	22 June 2020 -
C651					19	114			1993 – 1994 2016 – 2018[nb 1] (cancelled)	11	2 May 1995	6 September 2020 -
C751B					21	126			1999 – 2001	18	8 May 2000	11 September 2021 -
C151A					35	210			2011 – 2014	35	27 May 2011	N/A
C151B					45	270			2015 – 2017	45	16 April 2017
C151C					12	72			2017 – 2019	12	30 September 2018
CR151	N/A				106	636			2019 onwards	0	From 2022 onwards (Batch 1) From 2024 onwards (Batch 2)
C830				78	40	120	3	Circle Line	2006 – 2008	40	28 May 2009
C830C					24	72			2014 – 2015	24	26 June 2015
C851E	N/A				23	69			2019 onwards	0	From 2025 onwards
CT251			100	90	91	364	4	Thomson-East Coast Line	2015 – 2020	At least 29 trains in operation	31 January 2020

• The trains are classified as contracts unlike other countries which uses "class".

Light Rail Transit[]

SMRT Light Rail operates only one LRT line. The Bukit Panjang LRT Line provides feeder connections at Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang towns to the Downtown line at Bukit Panjang and North South line and the upcoming Jurong Region line at Choa Chu Kang.

Fleet[]

Name	Image	Type	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Trains built	Cars per set	Lines served	Built	Numbers In Service	Introduction into service	Withdrawn from service
			Design	Service
C801		electric multiple unit	55	48	19	1	Bukit Panjang LRT	1998 – 1999	19	6 November 1999	From 2022 onwards
C801A					13			2014 – 2015	13	19 November 2014	N/A
C801B	N/A				19			2018 – 2021	0	From 2022 onwards

• The trains are classified as contracts unlike other countries which uses "class".

Notable incidents[]

• Before the start of service, a maintenance vehicle spilt oil on the tracks between Clementi and Jurong East. The first ten eastbound trains reported braking problems. Then, at 7.50 am on 5 August 1993, the eleventh east-bound train from Jurong stopped at the Clementi Station for two minutes longer than scheduled due to it using its emergency brakes to stop at the station, and was then hit by the twelfth east bound train when it failed to stop in time. 156 passengers were injured by the collision.^[4]
• On 15 December 2011, train services were disrupted between Bishan and Marina Bay on the NSL. Two days after, train services were again disrupted between Toa Payoh and Marina Bay. SMRT suspected that the weight of the 4th generation trains, C151A, was the root cause of the breakdown. However, the 4th generation trains were sent back to China since July 2014. SMRT and LTA revealed that all of the critical parts like signalling, sleepers, third rail needs replacement by 2019.
• On 9 March 2015, the BPLRT came to a halt due to a station fire and a power fault, which resulted in a 24-hour service suspension. The cause of the power faults were due to the fire at Senja LRT Station. All trains underwent system checks and both LTA and SMRT engineers inspected the stations and tracks before service could resume. Certain section of tracks deemed as "possible causes of power faults" ran on reduced speed until around the 4th week of July before reinstating normal speed.
• On 7 July 2015, the NSEWL was completely suspended from normal train services. It was also the first time both major lines were suspended simultaneously. SMRT and LTA has suspected that faulty trains were the cause of this incident. Investigations concluded that a damaged insulator was the main cause of the multiple power trips on that day and SMRT could be fined for the lack of maintenance. Experts are looking into the matter to see if they can separate the power systems from the North South and East West Lines to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
• Pasir Ris rail accident: On 22 March 2016, 2 SMRT staff were killed when a train hit them near Pasir Ris station along the EWL. Following an audit and investigation, the Ministry of Manpower (Singapore) reported that SMRT had failed to follow safety procedures to ensure worker safety for the past 14 years.^[5] Former assistant engineer Lim Say Heng pleaded guilty to one charge of causing the deaths of the trainees by failing to observe critical safety protocol and was sentenced to four weeks jail.^[6]
• On 7 October 2017, train services along the North South Line between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier were disrupted due to flooding of MRT tunnels caused by a pump failure during rain.^[7] Train services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio remained unavailable for 21 hours till the afternoon of the following day.^[8][9] In the aftermath of the flooding incident, Ng Teck Poo, vice-president of maintenance and systems at SMRT was replaced.^[10] Following further investigations, the manager and staff responsible for the maintenance of the pumps were suspended after it was revealed that maintenance for the past three quarterly maintenance (starting from December 2016) may have been falsified.^[11]
• Joo Koon rail accident: On 15 November 2017, two C151A trains collided at Joo Koon, injuring 28 people, making the second incident after 24 years on 5 August 1993 when two C151 trains collided at Clementi.

Notes[]

References[]