Alstom Metropolis & Shanghai Electric C830C

Alstom Metropolis & Shanghai Electric C830C
Interior of C830C.
In service	26 June 2015 - Present
Manufacturer	Shanghai Alstom Transport (Alstom and Shanghai Electric)[1]
Built at	Shanghai, China
Family name	Metropolis
Constructed	2014–2015
Number built	72 Vehicles (24 Trainsets)
Number in service	72 Vehicles (24 Trainsets)
Formation	3 per trainset Mc1– T–Mc2
Fleet numbers	841 ~ 864
Capacity	931 passengers
Operator(s)	SMRT Trains (SMRT Corporation)
Depot(s)	Kim Chuan
Line(s) served	Circle Line
Specifications
Car body construction	Welded Aluminium
Car length	23.65 m (77 ft 7 ^1⁄8 in) (Mc) 22.8 m (74 ft 9 ^5⁄8 in) (T)
Width	3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Height	3.7 m (12 ft 1 ^5⁄8 in)
Doors	1,450 mm (57 ^1⁄16 in), 8 per car
Maximum speed	90 km/h (56 mph) (design) 78 km/h (48 mph) (service)
Traction system	IGBT–VVVF (Shanghai Alstom Electrical Equipment OPTONIX)[2]
Power output	1.66 MW (2,230 hp)
Acceleration	1.1 m/s2 (3.6 ft/s2)
Deceleration	1.3 m/s2 (4.3 ft/s2) (Emergency)
Electric system(s)	750 V DC third rail
Current collection method	Collector shoe
Braking system(s)	Regenerative Braking, Air Brakes
Safety system(s)	Alstom URBALIS 300 CBTC ATC with subsystems of ATO GOA 4 (UTO), ATP, Iconis ATS and Smartlock CBI
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge

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),^[1][3] with deliveries from end June 2014.^[3]

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.^[4][5]

S/N	Name of tenderer	Amount ($S)[5]
1	Alstom Transport S.A. – Alstom Transport (S) Pte Ltd Consortium	134,000,000.00[6] (Base Tender 1 - Offered in mixed currencies, and hence the differences of amount shown in the tender document.[4])
2	Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. / Kawasaki Heavy Industries(Singapore) Pte Ltd & CSR Qingdao Sifang Consortium	198,321,046.16 (Base Tender 1)
3	Hyundai Rotem	149,121,600.00 (Base Tender 1)
4	Construcciones Y Auxilliar De Ferrocarriles, S. A.	115,576,832.68 (Base Tender 1)
5	CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd.	121,842,307.69 (Base Tender 1)

Design

The middle carriage with C830C

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Train Formation

The configuration of a C830C in revenue service is Mc1-T-Mc2

Cars of C830C
car type	Driver Cab	Motor	Collector Shoe	car length		Wheelchair Space
				mm	ft in
Mc1	✓	✓	✓	23,650	77 ft 7.1 in
Mc2	✓	✓	✓	23,650	77 ft 7.1 in
T	✗	✗	✓	22,800	74 ft 9.6 in

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.

• The first digit is always a 8.
• The second digit and third digit identifies the set number
• The fourth digit is the car number.
  • Alstom Shanghai Electric built sets 841-864

See also

• Alstom Metropolis

References

1. "Driverless trains delivered to Singapore". Railway Gazette. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
2. "Alstom to supply 34 Metropolis trains and signaling upgrade to Singapore metro". French Chamber Singapore. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
3. "Alstom delivers the first two metros built in Asia for LTA in Singapore". 23 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
4. TENDER INFORMATION - Land Transport Authority, 1 Feb 2012
5. CONTRACT 751C & 830C - Land Transport Authority
6. "LTA and SMRT Award Contracts for New Trains.". Land Transport Authority. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
7. "Alstom Metropolis C830C". SGTrains. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
8. "Urbalis control system".
9. Tan, Christopher (11 November 2016). "Mystery of Circle Line's signalling woes solved, train with faulty signalling hardware to blame: LTA". Straits Times. Retrieved 11 November 2016.