Alstom has handed over the last of 106 six-car Movia trainsets ordered to renew the fleets that SMRT Trains operates on Singapore's North-South and East-West lines (NSEWL), completing a programme worth a combined S$1·165bn.

Land Transport Authority awarded what was then Bombardier Transportation the initial S$827m contract for 66 trainsets in July 2018. It followed with a S$337·8m order for 40 more in September 2020, a decision taken to standardise the NSEWL fleet, generate economies of scale and simplify maintenance across the two lines.

Alstom designed the trains in Germany and built them at Changchun Alstom Railway Vehicles Co in China, with engineering teams in Singapore and Sweden also contributing. The first sets entered service in June 2023, meaning the full 106-trainset programme ran from first delivery to final handover in roughly two and a quarter years.

The trains have a maximum speed of 90 km/h and carry Alstom's Flexx Urban bogies, Mitrac propulsion and regenerative braking, which recovers energy during deceleration for reuse elsewhere on the network. Each six-car set offers 220 seats in a longitudinal layout designed to improve passenger flow and maximise standing capacity — a relevant metric given the NSEWL rank among the world's most heavily used metro lines.

Accessibility features include step-free boarding at every door and flexible multipurpose spaces for passengers with reduced mobility, prams or luggage. Automatic track inspection cameras mounted on the trains monitor infrastructure condition during normal revenue operations, giving LTA continuous track data without requiring dedicated inspection runs.

Alstom says the trains incorporate design-for-disassembly principles, allowing materials and components to be separated more efficiently at end of life to support resource recovery.

Yann Maixandeau, Alstom's Managing Director for East Asia, marked the September 30 handover. 'The handover of the final train reflects the strength of our partnership with the Land Transport Authority and SMRT Trains,' he said. 'Together, we have worked at designing a fleet to meet the needs of passengers and operators alike. The new trains delivered provide greater comfort, improved accessibility and the long-term performance required to support one of the world's most heavily used metro networks.'

With the fleet standardised on a single Movia platform, SMRT Trains can now consolidate maintenance regimes and spares holdings across both lines, addressing the cost and reliability pressures that come with operating ageing, high-frequency urban corridors. The completion also closes out one of the largest rolling-stock orders in the network's history and frees LTA to focus on subsequent renewal programmes across its expanding metro network.