Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 cars
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The Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 cars form one of the four types of rolling stock found on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system. These are the oldest trains on the system, which have been running since the MRT system's inception in 1987, and are still in operation today. These trains are owned by SMRT Corporation, and run on the North South and East West Lines, both of which are operated by SMRT Corporation. A major overhaul program is being planned for the trains. 66 trainsets consisting of 6 cars each were purchased.
These trains were manufactured during 1986 and 1989 in three batches, headed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (21 trainsets), collaborating with Nippon Sharyo, Tokyu Car Corp and Kinki Sharyo as a Japanese consortium. No visible difference can be found in any of these batches, being built to agreed specifications. The trains are now undergoing refurbishment.
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[edit] Pre-refurbishment
[edit] Interior
The interior of these trains consists mostly of plastic, with glass partitions separating the seating areas from the passenger doors and metal grab poles. Straps line the middle of every car. The colour scheme of the interior are also different. The cab cars (trailer cars at the ends of the train) have an orange colour scheme. The second and fifth motor cars sport a blue interior, while the middle two motor cars use a green colour scheme. These trains have no visual passenger information systems, but have an automatic built-in audio announcement system.
[edit] Miscellaneous
LCD monitors were installed in a C151 (carriage number 3132) car in the late 90s as part of a pilot program for TV Mobile trial runs. They have since been removed.
A four-car unit is further built by Kawasaki to serve its rounds as a money train. On November 2006, the doors of three cars (carriage number 3006, 1006 and 2006) have each been installed with a dynamic in-train system displaying station information, similar to the ones in use by Hong Kong MTR, for testing.
[edit] Refurbishment of Trains
SMRT Corporation is currently refurbishing the C151 trains and this will be completed by around 2008. On 14 February 2006, Mitsui & Co, Lexbuild and Rotem Company have received an order to refurbish all 396 carriages costing S$142.7 million. The renewal works will include the refurbishment of seats and other interior fixtures, allocation of space for wheelchair personnel, the upgrading of onboard telecommunications equipment, and the improvement of the internal appearance of the cars.
The exterior of refurbished trains will resemble that of C751B cars, except that they will have flat frontal structures. The train wall panels are white and the corresponding seat colours of the front driving car have been changed from orange to red. Seats of the new cars were increased in length from 43cm to 48cm , having four seats from each seven seats to have a dark version of the corresponding colour of each car and the rest of the seats in every seven seats with a lighter one. The number of seats per row now 7 down from previously 9, was a decision which found unpopularity among commuters due to less seating capacity. Extra standing area has also been provided to increase the capacity of the refurbished cars.
The engine components have been retained, having performed better than expected. The wheelchair space is available only on the end of two middle cars nearest to the lifts in above ground stations. LED displays that blink when doors are closing were introduced except that it is positioned in the upper middle section of the door. More speakers and advertisement panels were also introduced. Hand grips were moved to the support bars of the seats on the ceiling and grabpoles are now located near the doors and at both ends of each carriage. The air-conditioning system has been changed to match the system used similarly by the C751Bs. The run number displays of refurbished trains remain unchanged.
SMRT Corporation has also cited reasons of wear and tear of important components over the past two decades of service and water leaks from the air-conditioning system of some trains. The company chose this option in favour over new rolling stock, which would have cost S$792 million. On 5 November 2006, the first refurbished train began revenue service on the North South MRT Line. Refurbishment of other trains will take place at the rate of twelve days per train.
As of 7th February 2007, 5 trainsets had entered revenue service. They are numbered x005 to x006 (November 2006), x083 to x084 (December 2006), x001 to x002 (January 2007), x035 to x036 (February 2007) and x021 to x022 (March 2007).
- Refurbished trains that are now undergoing trial tests : None currently
- Trains that are currently being refurbished : 003/004, 007/008
[edit] Car numbers
The car numbers of the trains range from x001 to x132, where x depends on the carriage type. Individual cars are assigned a 4 digit serial number by the rail operator SMRT.
- The first digit depends upon whether the car is the first, second or third car from either end of the train, where the first car equals 3, the second equals 1 & the third equals 2.
- The other 3 digits is the train identification number. A full length train of 6 cars have 2 different identification number, one for the first 3 cars, and the same number plus 1, for the other three. The smaller number is always an odd number. So for example, a train would consist of 6 cars with serial number 3033, 1033, 2033, 2034, 1034, 3034 respectively.
[edit] Technical specifications
- Length of train : 138 m (23 m per car)
- Width of car : 3.2 m
- Height of car : 3.7 m
- Weight of car : 35,000 kg
- Car body: Aluminium-alloy double-skinned construction
- Number of passengers seated per train: 372 (Pre-refurbishment), 300 per train (Refurbished)
- Number of passengers standing : 1,428
- Maximum passenger load : 1,920 or 320 per car
- Average speed : 45 km per hour
- Maximum speed : 80 km per hour
- Track gauge : 1,435 mm
- Track voltage : 750 volts DC third rail
- Train formation : Two sets of three-car Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) which are permanently coupled, providing for driving cabs at either end of trains and four motorised cars in the middle.
[edit] External links
| Trains on the Singapore MRT |
 Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 Cars |
 Siemens C651 Cars |
 Kawasaki Heavy Industries & Nippon Sharyo C751B Cars |
 Alstom Metropolis Cars |
