Alstom Metropolis C830C

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 closed on 18 July 2011 with five bids. The Land Transport Authority shortlisted all of them, and the tender results were published on 1 February 2012.

Design

The body shell of the C830C is identical to that its predecessor, the C830, with slight differences such as a larger SMRT logo up front and a different interior. The reserved seats are coloured red to distinguish them from normal seats. dark blue- and lemon 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 traction motors louder than its predecessor, identical to those found on the M5 Series of the Amsterdam Metro.

Other changes include the inner layer of the doors finished in bluish-grey, a dynamic route map display, similar to that of C951(A), located above the doors and a new gangway design similar to that of the C751C.

The headlights on C830Cs are also brighter than those on the C830s.

Features

The C830C features a dynamic route map display, letting commuters know what the current and next station is, as well as green blinking lights which indicate on which side the doors will open when the train reaches the station.

There is also a dynamic in-train route display, which provides commuters with their route information throughout their journey, and also indicates which side the doors will open. DRMD panels are installed in these trains, which will be slightly modified in 2026 to include Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward Road stations on the Circle Line Stage 6.

At most stations on the Circle Line, the train doors open on the right side, but at some stations like Promenade (Towards HarbourFront) and Bayfront (Towards Stadium) as well as the terminal stations like Dhoby Ghaut and Marina Bay, some trains may open their doors on the left.

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 coupling 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 (Mc) cars permanently coupled together. For example, set 841 consists of carriages 8411, 8412, 8413.

• The first digit is always an 8.
• The second and third digits identify the set number.
• The fourth digit identifies the car number, where the first car has a 1, the second has a 2 and the third has a 3.
• Alstom built sets 841 – 864.

References

References

1. (23 July 2014). "Driverless trains delivered to Singapore". Railway Gazette.
2. "Alstom to supply 34 Metropolis trains and signalling upgrade to Singapore metro".
3. "Singapore Northeast Line: will soon be the largest, fully automatic metro system in the world".
4. "URBALIS Evolution: Controlling the Performance".
5. (23 July 2014). "Alstom delivers the first two metros built in Asia for LTA in Singapore".
6. link. (2016-11-30 - Land Transport Authority, 1 Feb 2012)
7. [https://www.lta.gov.sg/data/apps/tender/doc/484/751C_830C_Tender_Schedule_Financial.pdf CONTRACT 751C & 830C] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-11-30 - Land Transport Authority)
8. (1 February 2012). "LTA and SMRT Award Contracts for New Trains.". Land Transport Authority.
9. "Alstom Metropolis C830C".
10. "Urbalis control system".
11. (11 November 2016). "Mystery of Circle Line's signalling woes solved, train with faulty signalling hardware to blame: LTA". Straits Times.