Hitachi small-type monorail (Sentosa Express)
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The Hitachi small-type monorail is a straddle-type monorail built by Hitachi Rail for the use on the Sentosa Express. These trains are part of Hitachi Monorail line of ALWEG-based monorail. The trains were part of a project to replace Sentosa's previous aging monorail system. The trains are fully air-conditioned.
| Hitachi small-type monorail | |
|---|---|
 Two SDC Hitachi monorails outside VivoCity | |
 Interior of the Sentosa Express Hitachi monorail | |
| Stock type | Straddle-beam guideway |
| In service | 15 January 2007 – present |
| Manufacturer | Hitachi Rail |
| Built at | Kasado Works, Kudamatsu, Japan |
| Family name | Hitachi Monorail |
| Replaced | Sentosa Monorail |
| Constructed | 2005–2009, 2017 |
| Entered service | 15 January 2007 |
| Number built | 14 vehicles (7 train sets) |
| Number in service | 14 vehicles (7 train sets) |
| Formation | 2 cars per trainset Mc1–Tc2 |
| Capacity | 32 seated; 152 standing |
| Operator | SMRT Corporation under their subsidiary Strides |
| Depot | Beach Station Depot |
| Line served | Sentosa Express |
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction | Welded aluminium |
| Train length | 25 m (82 ft 1⁄4 in) |
| Car length |
|
| Width | 2.7 m (8 ft 10+5⁄16 in) |
| Height | 2 m (6 ft 6+3⁄4 in) |
| Doors | 2 per car, sliding |
| Maximum speed |
|
| Traction system | Hitachi IGBT–VVVF |
| Electric systems | 750 V DC third rail |
| Current collection | Collector shoe |
| UIC classification | Bo′Bo′+2′2′ |
| Safety systems | |
| Coupling system | Shibata rotary |
| Track gauge | Straddle-beam |
Design
Each train set has its own exterior colour scheme – green, orange, blue, purple, pink, yellow and red. All trains are for passenger service, except for the maintenance train.
The interior of the trains consist of colours green and orange. These cars have foldable seats that can make room for more standing space during periods of high usage. Passenger Information Display Systems in the form of LED Displays are installed above each door in all passenger service trains to supply route information, similar to those used on the early batches of the Tokyo Metro 9000 series which were introduced in 1991. The trains also utilize sliding pocket doors to ensure the safety of the passengers on board when it is crowded. In addition to this, each car has two wheelchair bays.[1]
Operations and safety systems
Trains and platform screen doors were previously manually operated by train attendants; the trains utilised digital automatic train protection (ATP) to ensure trains keep a safe distance between each other and automatic train supervision (ATS) to provide the route setting for the train to travel.
With the upgrading to the wireless communications-based train control (CBTC) system in 2017, trains and platform screen doors are now operated automatically.
These trains are designed to have a maximum speed of 80km/h (50 mph), but they usually cruise at 15 to 50 km/h (9.3 to 31.1 mph).
Refurbishment and upgrades
The Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) has been changed to a newer updated LED Displays with route information.
A signalling system upgrade was also upgraded to Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC). With the change in Signalling System, it allowed more trains to run on the network.[2]
See also
- Hitachi Monorail
- Sentosa island
- Rail transport in Singapore
- Sentosa Monorail – a monorail system that used to ferry visitors around Sentosa from its introduction in 1982 to its dismantling in 2005
