North East MRT Line

"North East Line" redirects here. For the railway line in Australia, see North East railway line.

North East MRT Line 东北地铁线 வடக்கு கிழக்கு எம்ஆர்டி வழி
The North East Line is coloured purple on system maps.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
Status	Operational
Termini	HarbourFront Punggol
Stations	16
Services	1
Operation
Opened	20 June 2003 (except Woodleigh and Buangkok) 15 January 2006 (Buangkok) 20 June 2011 (Woodleigh)
Owner	Land Transport Authority
Operator(s)	SBS Transit (ComfortDelGro Corporation)
Rolling stock	Alstom Metropolis C751A
Technical
Line length	20 km (12 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead catenary
Route map Legend  Dhoby Ghaut  NE1 HarbourFront ■ NE3 Outram Park ■  Pasir Ris – Joo Koon  NE4 Chinatown ■  Expo  NE5 Clarke Quay Singapore River NE6 Dhoby Ghaut ■ ■  Marina Bay – Jurong East   HarbourFront   Bukit Panjang  NE7 Little India ■ NE8 Farrer Park NE9 Boon Keng NE10 Potong Pasir NE11 Woodleigh NE12 Serangoon ■  Dhoby Ghaut – HarbourFront  NE13 Kovan NE14 Hougang NE15 Buangkok Sengkang Depot West Loop:  Fernvale via Renjong  East Loop:  Bakau via Ranggung  NE16 Sengkang ■ East Loop:  Bakau via Compassvale  West Loop:  Fernvale via Cheng Lim  West Loop:  Samudera via Soo Teck  East Loop  Riviera via Cove  NE17 Punggol ■ East Loop:  Riviera via Damai  West Loop:  Samudera via Sam Kee

The North East MRT Line (NEL) is the third Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore and the world's second longest fully underground, automated and driverless, rapid transit line after Singapore's Circle MRT Line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations and operated by SBS Transit. Travelling from one end of this line to the other end takes 32 minutes. This line is coloured purple in the rail map.

Overview

As the name implies, the line connects central Singapore to the north-eastern part of the island. Transfer to the North South Line is provided at Dhoby Ghaut station, East West Line at Outram Park station and Circle Line at Serangoon, Dhoby Ghaut and HarbourFront stations. The future Downtown Line will interchange with the North East Line at Chinatown and Little India stations. 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 16 stations under the Art in Transit programme. Other than the Art in Transit programme, the interior architecture for the stations are typical of the design of the early 2000s with lots of white, glass and steel. This kind of design can be seen in other subway stations built during this period like the Shenzhen Metro and Hong Kong MTR's Tseung Kwan O line.

Presently, trains operate at two-minute frequencies during peak hours, five-minute frequencies during mid-day service and six-minute frequencies in the early morning and night times.

History

Buangkok MRT Station exterior

The Land Transport Authority received approval for the construction of the North East Line on 16 January 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.

In the initial stages of planning, Outram Park MRT Station was initially planned to be the southern terminus of the North East Line. However, in 1993, the Land Transport Authority decided to extend the line southwards to HarbourFront MRT Station, after noting that many people liked to go to the World Trade Centre (the present day HarbourFront Centre).

The line was initially scheduled for completion in December 2002, but due to various problems in the automation, the opening was repeatedly delayed. It was finally opened on 20 June 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, notably the "White Elephant" incident and subsequent media attention, forced it to review the situation and the station duly opened on 15 January 2006. As expected, Buangkok station's first-week ridership was the lowest on the NEL and does not cover operating costs.^{[citation needed]} The last station on the line, Woodleigh, opened on 20 June 2011 in anticipation of a American International School which is under construction in the vicinity of the station that is slated to open in 2012.

The North-East Line's numbering scheme reserves station code "NE2" between HarbourFront (NE1) and Outram Park (NE3). As of 2011, the LTA has not announced any details of any future station here.

Stations

Main article: List of Singapore MRT stations

Station Number	Station Name	Interchange
NE1  CC29	HarbourFront	Circle Line
NE3  EW16	Outram Park	East West Line
NE4  DT19	Chinatown	Downtown Line (under construction)
NE5	Clarke Quay
NE6  NS24  CC1	Dhoby Ghaut	North South Line Circle Line
NE7  DT12	Little India	Downtown Line (under construction)
NE8	Farrer Park
NE9	Boon Keng
NE10	Potong Pasir
NE11	Woodleigh
NE12  CC13	Serangoon	Circle Line
NE13	Kovan
NE14	Hougang
NE15	Buangkok
NE16  STC	Sengkang	Sengkang LRT
NE17  PTC	Punggol	Punggol LRT

Rolling stock

Doors of the NEL Train, showing the line map above them before Woodleigh and Buangkok opened.

The interior of a NEL train.

The front cabin of a NEL train, showing the emergency exit.

The rolling stock consists of Alstom Metropolis C751A trains, running in six-car formation. These trains operate from Sengkang Depot near Buangkok Station on the North East Line. The Sengkang Depot has maintenance and train overhaul facilities for trains along the North East Line. In 2010, the government announced that they would be looking to increase the number of trains on the North East Line by 70% within 5 to 6 years to cater to an expected increase in passenger traffic. The new trains will be called Alstom Metropolis C751C.

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 had been operating at a loss until late 2006. 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. At that time, SBS Transit estimated its losses for 2003 at S$40 million and was even rumoured to be considering selling the line to competitor SMRT Corporation, although both operators dismissed such speculation. However, the ridership has been slowly increasing and broke the break-even mark of 250,000 in late 2006. The North East Line operations has been turning in profits since.

Line Disruptions

On 24 July 2006, passengers on board a NEL train headed for HarbourFront MRT Station were evacuated after it stalled in the tunnel due to a loss of traction power around 12:45 p.m. The breakdown occurred when the overhead power lines in the tunnel were dislodged and disconnected after a 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 200m back to Outram Park 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.

On 21 April 2010, train services were disrupted due to technical faults with the signalling and communication systems. Passengers were informed that the trains were delayed and they are to utilize alternate means of transport. Though train services resumed after 9:45, commuters complained it is still slow.

On 1 March 2011, a technical fault with a signalling system track module disrupted train services between the Outram Park and HarbourFront MRT stations. The disruption lasted for about an hour, from around 2.30pm.

On 20 Dec 2011, the North-East Line suffered a signalling fault that affected two trains at about 7:45am. This caused a 20-minute delay between Outram Park and HarbourFront MRT stations. Two trains were stopped in the tunnel as engineers worked to reset the system. Announcements were made to passengers on its trains and station platforms along the line about the delay. Full train service were resumed at 8:05am.

See also

• List of driverless trains‎
• North East Line Facebook

External links

• North East Line (SBS Transit)
• North East Line (Land Transport Authority)
• Railway Technology on the NEL