New Trains From Barcelona, Spain Will Enter Service on the NEL in 2024

The North East Line (NEL) has it all: the bustle of Vivocity, the quaintness of Chinatown, one particularly handsome Member of Parliament (MP), and a couple of MRT breakdowns here or there.

Now we can add something else to the list: six sparkling, new trains running the show.

New Trains From Barcelona, Spain Will Enter Service on the NEL in 2024

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Sunday (4 Apr) that the first of the six new trains meant to supplement the existing 43 operating on the NEL had been delivered to Singapore, according to Mothership.

These trains, manufactured by the French firm Alstom in Barcelona, Spain, had arrived by sea and were then transported by road to Sengkang Depot, where they would undergo extensive testing before being commissioned.

These new trains are equipped with a range of new features, including a condition monitoring system to quickly spot any potential equipment faults and to allow the operator to preemptively carry out maintenance, if needed.

And no folding seats that do no one any good.

Revenue service is expected to commence in 2024, in time for the planned extension of the NEL. These trains will see operations on the Circle Line (CCL) when it’s, well, finally a circle, when the Circle Line Stage 6 is expected to be operational in 2026.

What is the NEL Extension & the Circle Line Stage 6?

The NEL extension comes at the northeastern end of, well, the NEL, according to transport fan site Land Transport Guru.

Covering 1.6km and adding the new Punggol Coast station to the NEL, the extension will serve the forthcoming Punggol Downtown development, which includes the Punggol Digital District and the new Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) campus.

Commuters can also look forward to more “open public spaces” for mass activities and exhibitions at the new station, according to The Straits Times, which reports the LTA’s vision for “the station to be a vibrant community hub that brings commuters together”. 

Well, let’s just hope the COVID-19 pandemic would have been over by then. Surely, being a community hub involves plenty of talking.

Circle Line Stage 6, meanwhile, is meant to connect the line’s existing termini of Harbourfront and Marina Bay. The 4km extension will run across the southern end of the Central Business District, passing through three stations with the self-explanatory names of Keppel, Cantonment, and Prince Edward Road.

And maybe then the CCL will finally stop looking like a snake about to eat its own tail. 

Feature Image: Facebook (Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving)