Kawasaki Heavy Industries & CSR Qingdao Sifang C151A


The trains manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries & CSR Qingdao Sifang under Contract 151A are the fourth generation electric multiple unit rolling stock in operation on the North South and East West Lines of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system. This additional batch of trains, together with a new track and platform at Jurong East Interchange, has increased the capacity of both lines by 15%.
The initial contract of 22 trainsets of 6 cars each was awarded to KHI and Sifang by the Land Transport Authority. In 2013, a further order of 13 trainsets under Batch 2 was placed and as of 2014, all 35 trainsets have been officially put into revenue service.
This is the last batch of rolling stock on the North South and East West lines to be painted in the original livery, including all Batch 2 trains even though they were made and painted in 2014.
On 5 July 2016, an investigative news report from FactWire alleged that C151A trainsets were being shipped back to Qingdao for rectification due to multiple defects, including an exploding battery and cracks on trains, but without notifying the public beforehand. The Singapore government acknowledged the trains were returned for rectification works, and have since published official statements to address FactWire's specific allegations.

History

On May 6, 2009, the Land Transport Authority announced that KHI and Sifang had won over Hyundai Rotem, Bombardier Transportation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to secure the contract at a cost of S$369 million, despite Hyundai Rotem offering the lowest bid at S$323 million for the order of 22 trainsets under Batch 1. Sifang handled the manufacturing and testing of the rolling stock, while KHI oversaw the project and design. The C151A contract was the first successful joint venture between these two companies in the international market.

Tender

The tender for trains under the contract turnkey 151A was closed in January 2009. The tender results were published in May 2009.
S/NName of tendererAmount
1Bombardier Pte Ltd and Bombardier Transportation GmbH Consortium373,327,788.00
2Kawasaki Heavy Industries,/ Kawasaki Heavy Industries /CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock368,997,888.00
3Mitsubishi Corporation393,301,698.52
4Hyundai Rotem322,729,548.00

Equipment

Main propulsion controller

The C151A trains are the third commuter type Electric Multiple Unit made in Japan to feature electric systems fully manufactured by Fuji Electric. Propulsion is controlled by VVVF Inverter with 2-level IGBT semiconductor controller, rated at 415 kV. Each inverter unit controls two motors on one bogie, and one motor car features two of such units. Motors are three-phrase AC induction type, model MLR109, with a maximum output of 140 kW. However, the main difference is that the traction for the trains is high pitch than the ones from C751B trains which are a low pitch.

Bogies

The C151A trains use the monolink axle box type bolsterless air spring bogie. There are no major technical differences between a trailer and motor car bogie other than additional electrical components for the latter.

Auxiliary systems

A break from tradition, the C151A trains features auxiliary inverters for its electrical systems on all six cars of the train. Previously, auxiliary inverters were mounted only on motor cars. The VVVF Inverter is controlled by IGBT semiconductors and rated at 80 kV. A battery charger is built with the inverter and provides 16 kW output.

Train formation

The configuration of a C151A in revenue service is DT-M1-M2-M2-M1-DT
The car numbers of the trains range from x501 to x570, where x depends on the carriage type. Individual cars are assigned a 4 digit serial number. A complete six-car trainset consists of an identical twin set of one driving trailer and two motor cars permanently coupled together. For example, set 555/556 consists of carriages 3555, 1555, 2555, 2556, 1556 and 3556.
After the 15 & 17 December disruptions, SMRT suspected that the extra weight from the train might have caused the disruptions. The C151As were temporarily suspended from running the full-day North South Line from January 2012 to November 2013. However, the Committee Of Inquiry report released to the public on 4 July 2012, concluded no evidence to suggest that 4th generation trains were responsible for the incident.
After the suspension of service on 7 July 2015, which was the worst breakdown in SMRT history, SMRT engineers detected arcing problems on one of the C151As, but no evidence was shown that it was the root cause of the service suspension.

Joo Koon train accident

On 15 November 2017 at approximately 8.18am, 2 C151A trains, namely 547/548 and 535/536 collided at Joo Koon MRT station. 29 passengers were conveyed to various hospitals following the incident and a further 7 walked in themselves. This is the second of such incidents after 5 August 1993, with the first being when 2 C151 trains collided at Clementi.

Operational problems

On 5 July 2016, a Hong Kong-based non-profit news organization FactWire had broken the news of the C151A trains suffering from multiple defects relating to Chinese-made materials and posted the entire investigative works in YouTube.

List of alleged flaws on C151A

These are the list of allegations mentioned in their YouTube video since C151A entered into revenue service in 2011.
This list compiles the initial response from the authorities are compiled from the first SMRT press release on 5 July 2016, 4:30pm by SMRT Trains managing director Lee Ling Wee as well as the first Land Transport Authority press release at an hour after first SMRT's press release. and also the subsequent official position on Singapore government's online FAQ portal 'Factually' which quotes sources from the Facebook page of Land Transport Authority hours after the initial press release.
No.Date of issue First appearedAlleged issues & consequencesAlleged actions taken by the authoritiesInitial response from SMRT or Land Transport AuthoritySubsequent response by Singapore Government portal 'Factually'Additional Notes
12011A C151A battery used for uninterruptible power supply exploded during a repair work but caused no injuries or deaths.All Chinese made batteries were replaced into German made instead.No commentsIssue was caused by gases building up in the battery housing cover, causing the cover to fly open. The design for battery housing was since improved to rectify this issue immediately on all affected trains.The authorities eventually admitted some flaws in the battery housing design, but did not confirm whether the suppliers for the batteries were changed as well as if the batteries installed on other C151A trains were replaced or not.
23 May 2015Tempered-glass repeatedly shattered on its own. One incident occurred in 2015 during revenue service without any injuries or death as reported by Straits Times.
Meanwhile, another similar case happened in 2012 but this incident had actually occurred on an unrelated C151 train instead.		No commentsNo comments
Acknowledged the issue happened on 5 of the 26 trains where the cracks were found only on the draught screens due to errors during installation process.
Draughtscreens refers to the glass panel at the side of sitting rows. This issue is unrelated to the alleged cracks on the C151A train body. 		None
315 & 17 December 2011SMRT suspects that C151A trains are responsible for the twin MRT breakdowns on North South Line during the evening peak hours.Worst disruptions in entire Singapore MRT history.

Furthermore, according to a CSR Sifang anonymous subcontractor, he claimed to FactWire that SMRT had reduced the deployment of C151A trains and requested payment delay for the extra C151A trains after the breakdowns. As a result, the cash-flow of the subcontractor is heavily impacted.		No commentsNot mentionedHowever, there is no way to independently verify the claim of delaying the payment for undelivered trains.
42013Impurities in aluminium bodywork caused the cracks found in structural components, including:
  • 1) Sub-floor, which is a compartment located under passenger floor. Its role is to hold equipment box and electrical wires.
  • 2) Bolster function parts connecting the car body to the bogie.
FactWire alleged the shipment of defective trains is part of a cover-up by both Singapore and the train manufacturers as the defective trains are wrapped in a green cover and transported during late night.

Moreover, an unnamed source from CRRC Qingdao Sifang claimed to FactWire that since 2015, 5 or more affected trains have already been replaced. This source claims that the entire process to rectify the issue will take 4 months to complete. This 4 months process begins with shipping the trains from Singapore to Qingdao, getting the defective train disassembled before parts are to reassembled into new aluminium train car body manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries as well as testing and ending it with the rectified trains returned to Singapore.
  • Issue was acknowledged by SMRT Trains managing director Lee Ling Wee. The process to recall 26 of 35 C151A trains back to China for repair by the manufacturer CRRC Qingdao Sifang started after the cracks issue was discovered in 2013. As for the 9 remaining trains, they were rectified during the production before being shipped to Singapore.
    Lee said that the issue would be fixed by 2023 and ended with an assurance that all trains will need to pass a monthly safety assessment by both LTA and the train manufacturer before being deployed into revenue service.
  • In a separate press release by Land Transport Authority, it confirms the defects but insisted that these are not safety-critical and do not affect the performance of the trains. LTA reiterates that the manufacturer will have to fix all defects found on the trains which are still under warranty.

However, both did not make the further explanation for the 7 years needed to rectify the issues, such as if the defective trains were shipped to a manufacturer in batches or not. Furthermore, both made no comments regarding the FactWire's claim about at least 5 trains have replaced since 2015.
  • Further explained that the cracks are hair-line cracks which are NOT structural cracks, as opposed to what FactWire claimed.
  • The entire repair works has also been brought forward to 2019 instead of 2023 as said by Lee Ling Wee originally, due to two factors:
  • *1) LTA has managed to negotiate with CRRC Qingdao Sifang to rectify the issue faster
  • *2) After the newer trains and upgraded trains are ready for revenue service by late 2016, 2 affected trains can be sent for repair at a time. Before this, SMRT can only send 1 train to the manufacturer in Qingdao at a time.
  • This arrangement of sending defective trains in batches instead of all at once is meant to minimize the inconvenience to the passengers on the train availability.
  • The entire time taken for rectifying the defects in each C151A train would take about 4 months. However the portal 'Factually' did not confirm when the transporting of first affected C151A train from Singapore took place and how many affected C151A trains had the issues rectified before the issue was made to the public on 5 July 2016.
  • The transportation of train cars during the late night is to reduce inconvenience to motorists and past deliveries of new trains were also conducted at night as well while the wrapping of trains is similar to how people protect their electronic item that will be shipped from overseas.
    However, the claim is disputed by some members of the public because there were photo evidence of new trains being shipped into Singapore during day time without the protective covers in the past as well.
Opinions from Railway Experts and Analysts:
  • Samuel Lai Man-hay who is former Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation acting chief executive officer had questioned the quality control of the entire manufacturing process if the allegations defects from Factwire for a relatively new train were to be true.
  • A senior lecturer at SIM University and analyst, Dr Park Byung Joon told Channel NewsAsia that this incident could be due to 'some critical and technical issues that nobody has an immediate solution yet' based on the 7 years needed to rectify the defects. Dr Park's opinion was reported in the CNA report along with the LTA press release.

Reactions from the Public, SMRT and Land Transport Authority

This incident is a source of public concern among Hong Kongers because the subway company in Hong Kong, MTR have ordered fleets of a new train from the same manufacturer Sifang. Hence, the news is quickly reported in other Hong Kong media.
The incident has also created a public uproar in Singapore public, and generated great discussion. Some of these discussions included the criticism of the Land Transport Authority and SMRT for the cover-up about the defective trains only until after the foreign press have reported it first while others questioning the quality of these Chinese-made trains.
Land Transport Authority have released more technical details about this incident on 6 July 2016 via Facebook and the media, including the issue was rectified on 5 of the defective 26 trains which confirmed FactWire's initial report, pictures to show and illustrate the hair-line crack and even named LTA has also named the independent third-party assessor, TUV Rheinland who shared the same opinion that the defects are "not safety-critical".
This occurred at the same day where a rumour posted on 4 February 2015 that alleged misconducts of Sifang faking technical data which involved about 70 people from multiple departments since November 2010 for failing to meet the standards set by KHI had gained traction within the members of public. The consortium refuted the rumor on 7 July 2016 and threatened to take legal actions. The rumour is also confirmed to be completely false by LTA at the same time as well. The link to the original rumour was deleted soon after the response from the authorities.
The Land Transport Authority had also made another press report on 7 July 2016 stating that "no brackets were added at any time to the underframe" in order to refute what FactWire subsequent report has claimed.
In this report, LTA has also stated that it "considered that the contractor was able to quickly identify the cause of the defects, take responsibility and carry out the necessary action promptly to rectify the fault" and gave the consortium the "highest quality score" as the basis for awarded them subsequent train contracts in 2015 despite the defects were discovered since.
This incident has also turned into a political issue as opposition politician Gerald Giam from the Workers Party questioned how the Land Transport Authority gave the consortium the "top quality score", among other statements in his Facebook page.
As a side note, the contract for C151B trains was also awarded to the same consortium in 2012 which was before the LTA and SMRT were officially aware of the cracks in C151A trains during 2013.
Soon after Gerald Giam's post was made public, Workers Party issued a Facebook post citing 5 of their 9 elected MP will be filing a total of 17 different questions to the parliament about this issue.

Criticism of CSR Qingdao Sifang by China Railway Corp

On 9 July 2016, one of the Singapore based alternative media has republished a CaiXin Online article in Chinese published in 2016 March about China Railway Construction Corporation Limited blamed the decline of quality standards from the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation manufactured trains. According to CRC, 60% of all railway incident in China as well as 90% of all railway disruptions during 2015 can be attributed to CRRC manufactured train did not meet the quality or the maintenance standards and there are 210 instances that caused death or injuries. The equivalent of the English article is also provided by CaiXin Online as well.
Sifang being a subsidiary of CSR Corporation Limited as a rolling stock manufacturer and the fact that CSR Corporation Limited merged with China CNR Corporation to form present day China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, it can be viewed as the CRC statement on CRRC is also a criticism of Sifang as well. Therefore, the articles from CaiXin Online has cast doubts about the Singapore authorities having faith with Chinese rolling stock manufacturer when the Chinese Railway Operator has cast doubts on their counterparts.

Official statement from Transport Minister">Ministry of Transport (Singapore)">Transport Minister

On 12 July 2016, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan released an extensive statement about this issue. These are the key points that Khaw have made: