S$749m contract awarded for 91 trains on Thomson, Eastern Region line

SINGAPORE — The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a contract worth about S$749 million for the purchase of 91 new four-car trains for the Thomson and Eastern Region lines.

The fully automated and driverless trains will be the first in Singapore to have five doors on the sides of each car for smoother boarding and alighting. Existing train cars have four doors on each side.

The new trains will also have improved electric current regeneration capability for better energy savings.

The contract was awarded to a consortium comprising Kawasaki Heavy Industries, its Singapore affiliate, and CSR Qingdao Sifang. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is responsible for the overall train design and CSR Qingdao Sifang will handle the production of the train body shell and the final assembly.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries supplies trains in the Japanese domestic market, as well as metro trains for the New York City Transit Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Authority. In Singapore, it has the most trains on the North-South and East-West Lines.

When completed, the Thomson and Eastern Region Lines will run as one line.

The 30-km long Thomson Line comprises 22 stations. When completed in 2021, it will link to the North-South, East-West, North-East, Circle, and Downtown Lines.