SINGAPORE – Rail operator SMRT Trains is teaming up with China’s Guangzhou Metro Group (GMG) in a joint bid to operate the upcoming Cross Island Line (CRL) when the authorities reopen the tender for the Republic’s longest fully underground line.
Speaking to reporters at Bishan Depot on Aug 5, SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming said the Chinese rail operator has “extensive experience” in using a fixed overhead conductor rail power system, which is what trains plying the new line will use.
Only the North East Line – operated by SBS Transit – employs an overhead system. All other MRT lines use a third rail, which supplies power to the trains.
Noting that GMG operates a network with a daily ridership of more than nine million passengers, or roughly three times that of Singapore’s MRT network, Seah said the Chinese operator’s experience “will complement SMRT’s strengths and create long-term value for Singapore”.
Both companies signed an agreement in June to team up for the bid.
Spanning about 67km across 27 stations from Changi Airport Terminal 5 to Gul Circle, the CRL will be Singapore’s eighth MRT line and is being built in three phases.
The third and final phase, which comprises four stations, will serve residents and workers across the western industrial estates and substantially improve connectivity to the rest of the island, said Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow on July 31.
Although the tender for the line’s operator had been called in May 2023, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in November 2024 that it decided not to award the contract.
SMRT Trains and a joint venture between SBS Transit Rail and the subsidiary of French public transport operator RATP Dev had submitted bids, but the authority said then that the tenderers’ proposals had not “adequately reflected the uncertainties of operating the line when service commences in six years’ time”.
The CRL’s first phase is slated to be completed in 2030.
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