The North-East Line is coloured purple on system maps.
Doors of the NEL Train, showing the system map above them.
The 'North East MRT Line' ('NEL') is the third
Mass Rapid Transit line in
Singapore and the world's first fully underground, automated and driverless
rapid transit line. The line is
20 km long with 16 stations, and operated by
SBS Transit. 1 complete loop of this line takes around half an hour. This line is coloured '
purple' in the rail map.
As the name implies, the line connects central Singapore to the northeastern part of the island. Transfer to the
North South Line is provided at Dhoby Ghaut station and
East West Line at Outram Park station. This line is the first in Singapore to be entirely underground.
The North East Line is the first line in Singapore to have artwork integrated into all its sixteen stations, under the Art in Transit programme.
History
The interior of a NEL train.
The
Land Transport Authority received approval for the construction of the North East Line on
January 16,
1996.
French company
Alstom was chosen as the main contractor and manager of the project. The operating license was given to new rail operator
SBS Transit in order to foster competition with
SMRT Corporation.
The line was scheduled for completion in
2002, but due to various problems in the automation, the opening was repeatedly delayed. It was finally opened on
June 20,
2003, with higher fares than existing lines supposedly to compensate for the heavy construction costs (
S$4.6 billion).
At the time that the line was opened, all of the stations were operating except
Buangkok and
Woodleigh. SBS Transit announced that these would open only when there was a critical mass of passengers in those areas. With respect to Buangkok, which had already been fully built, the company claimed that the projected number of passengers was too low to cover operating costs. Constant public pressure forced it to review the situation, and SBS Transit announced that it would opening Buangkok station on
15 January 2006. As expected, Buangkok station's first-week ridership was the lowest on the NEL, and does not cover operating costs.
At present, trains operate at 4-minute frequencies during peak hours, 6-minute frequencies during midday service and 8-minute frequencies in the early morning and night times.
Issues
Despite some initial glitches when the driverless line first opened, it has operated more or less reliably, as compared to the
Bukit Panjang driverless LRT run by competitor
SMRT Corporation, which was fraught with repeated hiccups.
A software flaw on one of the first days of operation paralysed the trains for several hours. Another problem of trains stalling at stations repeatedly was traced to commuters accidentally pressing the Emergency Communication Button whenever they leaned on the train wall, and rectified by placing plastic shields over the buttons.
The North East Line has also been criticised for charging higher fares than the rest of the system. Despite that, it is currently operating at a loss.
After half a year of operation, ridership remained below expectations at an average of 170,000 passengers per day, short of the 250,000 per day needed to break even. SBS Transit estimated its losses for 2003 at S$40 million, and was even rumored to be considering selling the line to competitor SMRT Corporation, although both operators dismissed such speculation.
The ridership is slowly increasing though, with an average of 220,466 passengers per day as of January
2005, increasing to 224,315 per day in June of the same year. Latest data reflects that the North East Line is already averaging 283,090 passengers per day in October 2006, well ahead of the 250,000 break-even mark.
Rolling Stock/Trains
The rolling stock consists of
Alstom Metropolis Cars, run in six-car formation.
Disruptions
On
24 July 2006, passengers on board a NEL train headed for
HarbourFront were evacuated after it stalled in the tunnel due to a loss of traction power around 12:45 p.m.
[1] The breakdown occurred when the
overhead power lines in the tunnel were dislodged and disconnected after the faulty insulator supporting them gave way.
Electricity was cut off from the train. It was reported that commuters in the tunnel saw
sparks and heard a loud bang before the train halted. Passengers had to walk a distance of about 200
m back to
Outram Park MRT Station as a result. 100,000 commuters were affected by the disruption for seven hours that day, with shuttle buses plying the affected sections of the line. An investigation was carried out during the period of ten months after the incident. The
Land Transport Authority announced that operator
SBS Transit will not be fined or penalised for the disruption, adding the fault was due to a faulty part and not negligence. Investigations pointed to the quality of the ceramic insulators made by
Ceralep Sn. The LTA said Ceralep had examined all 251 insulators in stock and are free of defects. The LTA said the dislodged wires did not pose a danger to the passengers on the train, since a
circuit breaker would have been tripped by the incident. In September 2006, another electrical fault disrupted train services for an hour. SBS Transit said the breakdown was due to a faulty
electrical relay, a type of
switch. The defective relay led to a replacement of about 200 relays made by
Relais Electroniques Deutsch, a
French corporation.
[2]
Stations
Kovan MRT Station interior
Buangkok MRT Station exterior
References
1. Joanne Leow, ''"NEL train services from Dhoby Ghaut to HarbourFront halted"'', Channel NewsAsia, 2006-07-24
2. Christopher Tan, ''No negligence, so train operation won't be fined'', The Straits Times, 2007-04-24
External links
★
North East Line (SBS Transit)
★
North East Line (Land Transport Authority)
★
Railway Technology on the NEL
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