On 25 July 2019, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that they would be purchasing 12 new trains from Alstom, in addition to the 11 trains that were procured in April 2018 for Circle Line (CCL) Stage 6.
Background
In March 2017, LTA called for a tender to procure additional trains for the Circle Line Stage 6, which include Keppel, Cantonment & Prince Edward Road stations. This tender, originally titled “Trains for Circle Line 6”, was subsequently modified to include trains for the North East Line Extension.
The contract (Contract 851E) was awarded to Alstom Transport (S) Pte Ltd & Alstom Transporte S.A., as the sole bidder, in April 2018 for:
- 11 Trainsets for Circle Line
- 6 Trainsets for North East Line
Main Article: Alstom Metropolis – Contract 851E trains
12 Additional Trains for Circle Line 6
As part of a joint press release with SMRT (Upgrading the Circle Line in Preparation for Circle Line 6) issued on 25 July 2019, LTA stated that the 12 additional trains procured from Alstom “are in addition to the 11 trains that were procured in April 2018 for CCL6.”
These 12 trains will be delivered progressively from 2024, and will cater for the expected increase in passengers when the CCL is fully operational.
In the press release, LTA did not specify if these 12 trains are procured under a separate contract, or as part of an option exercised as part the earlier Contract 851E.
It is also very likely that the trains are Alstom Metropolis trains which would be manufactured in Alstom’s Barcelona site, similar to that of Contract 851E trains.
In total, the Circle Line fleet size would increase to 87 trains after the delivery of all trains procured for the Circle Line as of July 2019.
Similarities to Downtown Line Train Procurement
This additional procurement of trains is similar to that of the Downtown Line Bombardier MOVIA rolling stock, where 15 trains were procured under Contract 951A in March 2013 in addition to the original 73 trains procured for the Downtown Line under Contract 951 in November 2008.
A further 4 trains were procured on top of the additional 15 trains as part of Contract 951A, with 92 trains eventually delivered for the Downtown Line in 2017.
References:
- Tender Information – LTA
- Joint News Release: Upgrading the Circle Line in Preparation for Circle Line 6 – SMRT
- LTA awards 6 Downtown Line Contracts Totalling $1.13 Billion – LTA
- Shorter Waiting Time With 15 More Trains For Downtown Line – LTA
- Bombardier MOVIA Fleet to Double Capacity on Singapore Downtown Line – Bombardier
Yes, these 12 trains ARE under C851E.