In service 26 June 2015 - Present Family name Metropolis | Built at Shanghai, China Constructed 2014–2015 | |
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Manufacturer Shanghai Alstom Transport
(Alstom and Shanghai Electric) Number built 72 Vehicles (24 Trainsets) | ||
The Shanghai Alstom Metropolis C830C, together with the C751C are the third generation of communication-based train control (CBTC) rolling stock to be used in Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines. 24 trainsets of 3 cars were manufactured by Shanghai Alstom Transport Co Ltd (joint venture of Alstom and Shanghai Electric), with deliveries from end June 2014.
Contents
Tender
The tender for trains under the contract 830C was opened together with another contract C751C for an additional 18 North East Line trains which was closed on 18 Jul 2011 with 5 bids. The Land Transport Authority has shortlisted all of them and the tender results was published on 1 Feb 2012.
Design
The body shell is identical to its predecessor, the C830, with slight differences such as a larger SMRT logo up front but the interior is significantly different. The reserved seats are coloured red to distinguish them from normal seats. Navy blue and yellow coloured seats are installed in the driving motor cars (end carriages) while the seats in the middle car are khaki. The train is equipped with a propulsion system that is louder than its predecessor.
Other new designs include the inner layer of the doors finished in a Bluish-Grey colour, a new Visual Passenger Information System, similar to the C951, located above the doors and a new gangway design similar to the C751C.
To spot one of them, their headlights are luminously white instead of warm yellow installed on older trains to know whether is either C830 or C830C trains.
Driverless operation
The C830C is fully driverless under normal circumstances, using CBTC which do not require traditional "fixed-block track circuits" for determining train position. Instead, they rely on "continuous two-way digital communication" between each controlled train and a wayside control center, which may control an area of a railroad line, a complete line, or a group of lines. Recent studies consistently show that CBTC systems reduce life-cycle costs for the overall rail property and enhance operational flexibility and control.
Operational issues
Trainset 846 suffered from a faulty signalling hardware, resulting in intermittent signaling issues which caused widespread disruptions to the Circle MRT Line for a week in both August and November 2016.
Train Formation
The configuration of a C830C in revenue service is Mc1-T-Mc2
The car numbers of the trains range from 841x to 864x, where x depends on the carriage type. Individual cars are assigned a 4 digit serial number by the rail operator SMRT Trains. A complete three-car trainset consists of one trailer(T) and two driving motor cars(Mc1 & Mc2) permanently coupled together. For example, set 864 consists of carriages 8641, 8642, 8643.