Punggol LRT line


The Punggol LRT line is an automated guideway transit line in Singapore. The line, which initially opened on 29 January 2005, connects the residential districts and suburbs of Punggol to Punggol Town Centre, where it connects with the North East MRT line and the Punggol Bus Interchange. It is the third line of the LRT system in Singapore and like all other LRT lines, it is fully elevated and uses automated trains.
The first phase is a line with 15 stations in two loops. It is the second LRT line to be operated by SBS Transit.

History

Plans for the Punggol LRT line were drawn up and announced in January 1999 with the development of Punggol New Town. Construction began in June 2000 by a consortium comprising Sembcorp Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation, at a cost of S$354 million. Meanwhile, the Punggol LRT line was awarded to Singapore Bus Service on 20 May 1999. The first phase was completed in June 2004 and underwent testing by the Land Transport Authority. The system was handed over to SBS Transit on 1 December that year, which conducted more trial runs and staff training before the opening of the East Loop on 29 January 2005. However, due to limited developments around some stations on the loop at the time, only the stretch of stations from Cove station to Kadaloor station were opened. The West Loop opened in stages on 29 June 2014.
A covered middle platform at Punggol and a short track piece branching from Teck Lee had already been built in anticipation of a possible Punggol North LRT line, but these plans were subsequently scrapped, and a new Punggol Coast MRT station is being built instead.
DateSection
29 January 2005East Loop opened for uni-directional operation.
15 June 2007Oasis opened.
20 June 2011Damai opened. East Loop became fully operational in both directions throughout the day.
29 June 2014West Loop opened for uni-directional operation.
Sam Kee opened.
29 December 2016Punggol Point opened.
31 March 2017Samudera opened.
29 September 2018
West loop became fully operational in both directions throughout the day, except for Teck Lee, which is yet to be opened.

Improvements

On 31 October 2012, the Land Transport Authority announced that by 2016 the Sengkang and Punggol LRT lines would be upgraded to two-car trains, doubling the passenger capacity. An additional 16 more cars were to be ordered, bringing the total fleet size to 57. The longer trains also required modifications to the signaling and communication system.
On 29 December 2016, trains started operating in the two-car formations on the line's East loop during morning and evening peak hours from 6.45 am to 8.45 am and from 6.15 pm to 8.15 pm. Service frequency will be maintained at three to four minutes during morning and evening peak hours.
On 15 December 2017, the Land Transport Authority said there will be limited services on parts of the Sengkang-Punggol LRT on most Sundays from 14 January 2018 to 25 February that year, to facilitate renewal and improvement works from. Only one platform will open for service at 5.30am on Sundays. The other platform will open from 7am.On 22nd of that month, SBS Transit said the arrangement is expected to continue until end April that year.
From 27 May to 7 October that year, limited services on Sundays will continue on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT. One platform will open at 5.30am and the other platform will open at 5.30pm.

Stations

Services

There are four services in total, with two services on each loop.
ServiceTerminalviaLoopRemarks
APunggolWest LoopSoo Teck to Sam Kee
Clockwise direction
BPunggolEast LoopCove to Damai
Anti-clockwise direction
CPunggolDamaiEast LoopDamai to Cove
Clockwise direction
DPunggolWest LoopSam Kee to Soo Teck
Anti-clockwise direction

Rolling stock

Trains operating on the line are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Crystal Movers C810s and C810As. Trains operate from the Sengkang Depot which provides maintenance and train overhaul facilities for both the Punggol and Sengkang LRT lines.

Train formation

The original system consists of single-car C810s. Each unit is long and can carry up to 105 passengers. 16 original C810s were modified to allow two-car train operation and 16 C810As came with this configuration. This boosted capacity to 204 per trip.

Train control

The line is equipped with Kyosan APM fixed block signalling system for Automatic train control under Automatic train operation GoA 4. The subsystems consist of Automatic train protection to govern train speed, Automatic Train Supervision to track and schedule trains, and a computer-based interlocking system that prevents incorrect signal and track points settings.