The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a contract to Hyundai Rotem Company (HRC) for the supply of 62 three-car trains for the Jurong Region Line (JRL), at a contract value of $416.5 million.
The contract covers the supply of the new fleet of fully-automated and driverless JRL trains, which will be wholly designed and manufactured by HRC in South Korea. HRC may also provide long-term service support to the future JRL operator as necessary. The first train is expected to arrive in Singapore around mid-2024.
JRL is Singapore’s seventh MRT line, serving both existing and future developments in the western part of Singapore. As the line travels through an already built-up area, each train will be made up of three smaller train cars, so that they are more maneuverable along tighter curves.
As a new line, LTA has more latitude to improve the design of JRL trains. To facilitate easy boarding and alighting, each train car will have three wide doors on each side. At a width of 1.5 metres each, these doors are wider than trains on existing MRT lines. In line with efforts to promote a more inclusive and welcoming public transport experience, each train car will also feature space for wheelchair users and strollers.
Besides passenger-friendly features, the JRL trains will also be designed with ease of operations and maintenance in mind. This includes equipping the trains with advanced condition monitoring and diagnostic systems to detect train faults. Some trains will also be equipped with an Automated Track Inspection system to monitor the real-time condition of the running rail for defects. This will enable the future JRL operator to adopt a more preventive and predictive maintenance regime, which is more efficient. HRC will also tap on various existing suppliers of sub-systems (such as train doors) of other trains in Singapore. This allows for greater commonality of spares, and enables more efficient and responsive maintenance support.
This is the first time that HRC is supplying new trains for the Singapore market. HRC has over 40 years of experience in train design and manufacturing with a strong presence in South Korea and various international markets. HRC supplies most of the trains for Seoul Metro, and has supplied trains to Hong Kong, Vancouver, Sao Paulo, Istanbul and Athens. HRC has also previously completed projects the mid-life refurbishment for the first-generation fleet of North-South and East-West Line trains in 2006.
