Last of Singapore's first-generation MRT trains makes final run

All the first-generation trains on the North-South and East-West MRT lines have been phased out of service, with the last of the 66 trains plying them for the final time on Sept 26.

- Esther Loi

This comes 38 years after the first-generation Kawasaki Heavy Industries trains started entering service in the new MRT system on Nov 7, 1987.

Initially slated to be taken out of service by end-2026, these first-generation trains are being replaced by the seventh-generation Alstom Movia R151 trains.

In September 2024, an axle box failure on a first-generation train crippled service along a stretch of the East-West Line for six days, in one of the worst disruptions in Singapore’s rail history.

For this, transport operator SMRT was fined $2.4 million by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).