All 25 first-generation North East Line MRT trains refurbished for improved efficiency

SINGAPORE – All 25 first-generation trains on the North East Line (NEL) have been upgraded under a renewal programme that began in 2019.

The final upgraded train returned to passenger service in March, SBS Transit said on April 29.

Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow attended a ceremony at Sengkang Depot marking the completion of the midlife upgrade and toured a refurbished train to learn about its new features.

The Alstom Metropolis C751A trains have been in service since the MRT line opened in 2003. The NEL serves over half a million commuters each day.

The upgrade includes new seats, wall panels, LED lighting, handrails and grab poles.

Static route maps have been replaced with digital displays that provide real-time information and door-opening indicators.

The new air-conditioning and ventilation system responds to crowd levels, improving cooling and energy use.

The upgraded trains are also equipped with a condition monitoring system that tracks performance in real time, enabling earlier fault detection and repair. The Integrated Vehicle Health Management system monitors more than 8,000 data points in real time.

Before the upgrade, it tracked only 300 to 500 data points, and information could be accessed only when trains returned to the depot.

Now, data is transmitted in real time for remote monitoring, allowing faults to be spotted and fixed earlier.

The upgraded system gives engineers a clearer picture of each train’s condition and readiness, enabling maintenance to be carried out proactively once potential faults are identified.

Since its implementation in 2022, the system has detected more than 20 faults across different train systems, allowing them to be resolved before they could cause service disruptions, said SBS Transit group chief executive Jeffrey Sim.

The system will be progressively extended to newer trains on the NEL to further improve reliability, SBS Transit said.

There are also new features that make train recovery easier and faster during disruptions.

One is the service brake isolation button, which releases the train’s brakes simultaneously, allowing it to be safely towed away. Previously, staff had to release the brakes manually at 12 points on the train.

There are also isolation valves in the cabins that allow the brake system to be switched off so that a faulty train can be easily and safely towed by a rescue train, enabling faster service recovery. The valves were previously located beneath the train, requiring staff to go down to the tracks to access them.

The detrainment door button – which opens the front and rear doors for passengers to exit onto the tracks – has been upgraded to require less force, enabling faster evacuation in emergencies.

Improvements were also made to an event recorder, which previously stored operational data for up to two hours before being overwritten. The recorder can now store up to 30 days of data, helping engineers better analyse faults.

In March, the NEL was Singapore’s most reliable MRT line, clocking 4.45 million train-km before encountering any delay of more than five minutes.

This is the highest possible for the line, Mr Sim said.

“To sustain this high level of reliability, it is essential that we keep our assets and infrastructure, including our trains, in consistently peak condition,” he said.

The upgrade will shift day-to-day maintenance towards a predictive approach, said Mr Sim, enabling engineers to spot early signs of component failure through condition monitoring and intervene before faults occur.

This moves maintenance away from fixed schedules based on time or mileage to a more efficient, condition-based model driven by real-time data, he added.

The new evacuation and emergency features are supported by improved backend systems that enhance fault detection and diagnosis.

Mr Sim said strengthening operational recovery is a key priority. While faults cannot be entirely prevented, the aim is to respond swiftly to minimise inconvenience to commuters, he added.

The trains were refurbished at Sengkang Depot, where NEL trains are parked and maintained.

In a Facebook post on April 29, Mr Siow noted that the project was initiated in 2018 by then Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan. He served as transport minister from 2015 to 2020.

In a December 2018 speech, Mr Khaw said his ministry’s priority was to improve rail reliability, pointing to a period of underinvestment and “minimum” maintenance that had led to breakdowns in earlier years.

“We have learnt this hard lesson. We are determined not to have it repeated,” he said.

The NEL is Singapore’s third-oldest MRT line. In December 2024, it was extended with the opening of Punggol Coast station, the 17th station on the 22km line.

The NEL fleet also includes 18 second-generation Alstom Metropolis C751C trains, which have been in service since 2015.

Six third-generation trains were progressively added from 2023, bringing the total fleet to 49 trains, up from 43.