North East MRT Line

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North East Line
The North East Line is coloured purple on system maps.
Info
Type	Rapid transit
System	Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
Status	Operational
Terminals	HarbourFront Punggol
No. of stations	16
Service routes	1
Operation
Opened	20 June 2003
Owner	Land Transport Authority
Operator(s)	SBS Transit
Rolling stock	Alstom Metropolis
Technical
Line length	20 km (12.4 mi)
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) Standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead catenary
Line map Legend Circle Line to Dhoby Ghaut via Buona Vista (future) NE1 HarbourFront ↔CC Line (future) East West Line to Boon Lay NE3 Outram Park ↔EW Line East West Line to Pasir Ris and Changi Airport Downtown Line to Bukit Panjang via Promenade (future) NE4 Chinatown ↔DT Line (future) Downtown Line to Expo (future) NE5 Clarke Quay Singapore River North South Line to Jurong East NE6 Dhoby Ghaut ↔NS Line, CC Line (future) North South Line to Marina Bay Circle Line to HarbourFront via Paya Lebar (future) Downtown Line to Expo (future) NE7 Little India ↔DT Line (future) Downtown Line to Bukit Panjang (future) NE8 Farrer Park NE9 Boon Keng NE10 Potong Pasir NE11 Woodleigh (closed) Circle Line to HarbourFront via Buona Vista (future) NE12 Serangoon ↔CC Line (future) Circle Line to Dhoby Ghaut via Paya Lebar (future) NE13 Kovan NE14 Hougang NE15 Buangkok Sengkang Depot Sengkang LRT West Loop to Fernvale via Renjong Sengkang LRT East Loop to Bakau via Ranggung NE16 Sengkang ↔SKLRT Sengkang LRT East Loop to Bakau via Compassvale Sengkang LRT West Loop to Fernvale via Cheng Lim Punggol LRT West Loop to Samudera via Soo Teck (future) Punggol LRT East Loop to Riviera via Cove NE17 Punggol ↔PGLRT Punggol LRT East Loop to Riviera via Damai Punggol LRT West Loop to Samudera via Sam Kee (future)

The North East MRT Line (NEL) is the third Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore and the world's first fully underground, automated and driverless rapid transit line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations, and operated by SBS Transit. Traveling from one end of this line to the other end takes around half an hour.^[1] This line is coloured purple in the rail map.

Contents 1 Overview 2 History 3 Stations 4 Rolling Stock/Trains 5 Issues 6 Disruptions 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Overview

As the name implies, the line connects central Singapore to the northeastern part of the island. Transfer to the North South Line is provided at Dhoby Ghaut station and East West Line at Outram Park station. This line is the first in Singapore to be entirely underground. The North East Line is the first line in Singapore to have artwork integrated into all its sixteen stations, under the Art in Transit programme. Other than the Art in Transit programme, the interior architecture for the stations are typical of the design of the early 2000s with lots of white and glass and steel. This kind of design can be seen in other subways stations built during this period like the Shenzhen Metro and Hong Kong MTR's Tseung Kwan O line.

Presently, trains operate at 2-minute frequencies during peak hours, 5-minute frequencies during midday service and 6-minute frequencies in the early morning and night times.

There is a jump in station number from NE1 to NE3 between the two adjacent HarbourFront and Outram Park stations. This means that there is a possible future NE2 station, possibly located at the Bukit Purmei area.

[edit] History

The Land Transport Authority received approval for the construction of the North East Line on January 16, 1996. French company Alstom was chosen as the main contractor and manager of the project. The operating license was given to new rail operator SBS Transit in order to foster competition with SMRT Corporation.

In the initial stages of planning, Outram Park MRT Station was initially planned to be the southern terminus of the North East Line. However, in 1993, the Land Transport Authority decided to extend the line southwards to HarbourFront MRT Station, after noting that many people liked to go to the World Trade Centre (the present day HarbourFront Centre).

The line was scheduled for completion in 2002, but due to various problems in the automation, the opening was repeatedly delayed. It was finally opened on June 20, 2003, with higher fares than existing lines supposedly to compensate for the heavy construction costs (S$4.6 billion).

At the time that the line was opened, all of the stations were operating except Buangkok and Woodleigh. SBS Transit announced that these would open only when there was a critical mass of passengers in those areas. With respect to Buangkok, which had already been fully built, the company claimed that the projected number of passengers was too low to cover operating costs. Constant public pressure forced it to review the situation, and SBS Transit announced that it would opening Buangkok station on 15 January 2006. As expected, Buangkok station's first-week ridership was the lowest on the NEL, and does not cover operating costs.

[edit] Stations

Station Number	Station Name	Interchange
NE1 / CC29	HarbourFront	Interchange with Sentosa Express, Circle Line (future)
NE3 / EW16	Outram Park	Interchange with East West Line
NE4 / DT1	Chinatown	Interchange with Downtown Line (future)
NE5	Clarke Quay
NE6 / NS24 / CC1	Dhoby Ghaut	Interchange with North South Line, Circle Line (future)
NE7	Little India	Interchange with Downtown Line (future)
NE8	Farrer Park
NE9	Boon Keng
NE10	Potong Pasir
NE11	Woodleigh (Closed)
NE12 / CC13	Serangoon	Interchange with Circle Line (future)
NE13	Kovan
NE14	Hougang
NE15	Buangkok
NE16 / STC	Sengkang	Interchange with Sengkang LRT
NE17 / PTC	Punggol	Interchange with Punggol LRT

[edit] Rolling Stock/Trains

The rolling stock consists of Alstom Metropolis cars, running in six-car formation.

[edit] Issues

Despite some initial glitches when the driverless line first opened, it has operated more or less reliably, as compared to the Bukit Panjang driverless LRT run by competitor SMRT Corporation, which was fraught with repeated hiccups.

A software flaw on one of the first days of operation paralysed the trains for several hours. Another problem of trains stalling at stations repeatedly was traced to commuters accidentally pressing the Emergency Communication Button whenever they leaned on the train wall, and rectified by placing plastic shields over the buttons.

The North East Line has also been criticised for charging higher fares than the rest of the system. Despite that, it had been operating at a loss until late 2006. After half a year of operation, ridership remained below expectations at an average of 170,000 passengers per day, short of the 250,000 per day needed to break even. At that time, SBS Transit estimated its losses for 2003 at S$40 million, and was even rumored to be considering selling the line to competitor SMRT Corporation, although both operators dismissed such speculation. However, the ridership has been slowly increasing, and broke the break-even mark of 250,000 in late 2006. The North East Line operations has been turning in profits since.

[edit] Disruptions

On 24 July 2006, passengers on board a NEL train headed for HarbourFront were evacuated after it stalled in the tunnel due to a loss of traction power around 12:45 p.m. ^[2] The breakdown occurred when the overhead power lines in the tunnel were dislodged and disconnected after the faulty insulator supporting them gave way. Electricity was cut off from the train. It was reported that commuters in the tunnel saw sparks and heard a loud bang before the train halted. Passengers had to walk a distance of about 200m back to Outram Park MRT Station as a result. 100,000 commuters were affected by the disruption for seven hours that day, with shuttle buses plying the affected sections of the line. An investigation was carried out during the period of ten months after the incident. The Land Transport Authority announced that operator SBS Transit will not be fined or penalised for the disruption, adding the fault was due to a faulty part and not negligence. Investigations pointed to the quality of the ceramic insulators made by Ceralep Sn. The LTA said Ceralep had examined all 251 insulators in stock and are free of defects. The LTA said the dislodged wires did not pose a danger to the passengers on the train, since a circuit breaker would have been tripped by the incident. In September 2006, another electrical fault disrupted train services for an hour. SBS Transit said the breakdown was due to a faulty electrical relay, a type of switch. The defective relay led to a replacement of about 200 relays made by Relais Electroniques Deutsch, a French corporation.^[3]

[edit] See also

• List of driverless trains‎

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• North East Line (SBS Transit)
• North East Line (Land Transport Authority)
• Railway Technology on the NEL

v • d • e Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) General: History (Nicoll Highway collapse) · Fares and ticketing · Facilities · Safety · Security (Police MRT Unit) Lines and Stations: North South Line · East West Line · North East Line · Circle Line (U/C) · Downtown Line (U/C) · Thomson Line (planned) · Eastern Region Line (planned) · MRT stations Rolling Stock: C151 · C651 · C751B · Alstom Metropolis Depots: Bishan · Changi · Kim Chuan · Sengkang · Ulu Pandan Companies: ComfortDelGro (SBS Transit) · SMRT Corporation (SMRT Trains)

v • d • e Railway lines in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit North South (SMRT) · East West (SMRT) · North East (SBST) · Circle (U/C) (SMRT) · Downtown (U/C) · Thomson (planned) · Eastern Region (planned) Light Rapid Transit Bukit Panjang (SMRT) · Sengkang (SBST) · Punggol (SBST) · Jurong International Rail Intercity North-South (KTM) Other Changi Airport Skytrain (CAAS) · Jurong BirdPark Panorail (WRS) · Sentosa Express (SDC) · Sentosa Monorail (defunct) (SDC) Note: The colour representing the Downtown Line has yet to be confirmed.