February 22, 2022, 03:10 AM
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The first two new trains for the North-South and East-West MRT lines (NSEWL) have arrived in Singapore.
They are part of a fleet of 106 new trains designed in Germany and built in China.
The trains were shipped to Singapore by sea.
The journey took about one month to complete.
Details about the new trains were shared by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Facebook on Feb. 21.
Replace trains in use since 1987
The new rolling stock will replace trains that have been operating on the two lines since 1987 when the NSEWL began operations.
The first-generation trains will be retired when the new trains enter service from the end of 2022.
The new trains also highlight how the supply chain spans many countries in the northern hemisphere.
“The design was conceptualised in Germany before they were manufactured and assembled in China, and their parts were sourced from various countries including United Kingdom, France and Germany,” LTA wrote.
Decked out in green and red stripes, the traditional colours of NSEWL, they will serve commuters from end-2022, LTA added.
The trains will undergo rigorous testing and commissioning works before they are ready.
Standardised look
In 2018, LTA announced that it had bought 66 new trains to replace its oldest fleet.
The trains were to be made by Canadian company Bombardier Transportation, and were supposed to arrive in batches from 2021.
In 2020, it was announced that a second set of 40 trains were to be bought from Bombardier to replace second- and third-generation trains on the North-South and East-West lines from 2024.
The 19 second-generation trains have been operating since 1995.
The 21 third-generation trains have been in service since 2000.
A total of 198 trains of six different types serve the NSEWL as of 2020.
In contrast, all 106 new trains will have the same design.
French rail transport manufacturing company Alstom has acquired Bombadier, with the acquisition finalised in January 2021.
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