Changi Airport Skytrain

The Changi Airport Skytrain is an automated people mover (APM) that connects Terminals 1, 2 and 3 at Singapore Changi Airport. Opened in 1990, it was the first driverless and automated system of its kind in South East Asia.[1] The Changi Airport Skytrain operates from 05:00 to 02:30 daily.[2] Traveling on the Skytrain is free and an inter-terminal journey takes approximately four minutes.

Changi Airport Skytrain
Changi Airport SkyTrain Terminal 2 station
Overview
TypeAutomated people mover (APM)
LocaleSingapore Changi Airport serving Singapore
Stations7
Services5
Operation
Opened1990 (1990)
Closed1 May 2020 (until further notice)
OwnerChangi Airport Group
Operator(s)Changi Airport Group
Rolling stockMitsubishi Heavy Industries Crystal Mover
Adtranz C-100 (withdrawn)
Technical
Line length6.4 km (4.0 mi)
Track gauge1,850 mm (6 ft 27⁄32 in) broad gauge
Electrification750 V DC third rail
Route map

Terminal 1
Station C
Station D
Station B
Station E
Terminal 3
Terminal 2
Station A
Station F
Station A South

Since 2006, the trains operating on all Skytrain lines are Crystal Movers manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. All stations are equipped with platform screen doors, are air-conditioned and have plasma displays indicating the arrival time of the next train.

With the opening of Changi Airport MRT station on 8 February 2002, the Skytrain is able to connect passengers at Terminal 1 to the MRT station entrances located at Terminals 2 and 3.[3]

History[4]
  • 1990: Skytrain opens between Terminal 1 and 2
  • March 2006: Upgraded to Mitsubishi Crystal Mover system
  • November 2007: Extensions to T3 and South section opens with 5 new stations
  • 24 February 2015: Suspension of Station B to E service (T2 to T3) for the construction of Jewel Changi Airport
  • 2019: Signalling and capacity upgrade with 6 new train cars
  • 12 April 2019: Resumption of Station B to E service (T2 to T3) with 3-car service (for transit passengers only)
  • July 2019: Full resumption of Station B to E service (T2 to T3) with 3-car service (for public & transit passengers)
  • April 2020: Suspension of Station B to E (T2 to T3) and Station A to F (T2 to T3) services for all passengers, as well as Station B to C (T3 to T1) and Station D to E (T1 to T2) services for transit passengers until further notice
  • 1 May 2020: Full suspension of all Skytrain services until further notice

System

The Skytrain system consists of two independent systems: an airside-only PMS/South, which provides services between Terminals 2 and 3 and between Terminal 3 main building and South Pier, and a PMS/North that provides services between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 on both the landside and airside. The system use a bypass shuttle for services between Terminals 2 and 3 and single-lane shuttles for the rest of the system, with both the landside and airside having their own lanes.[5]

The system consists of seven stations (A-South, A, B, C, D, E and F), each giving the name of the nearest boarding gate for easy recognition for passengers.[5]

The Main Operation Control Center is located inside the maintenance office near A-South Station and the Standby Satellite Control Center is located in the center of the Terminal 3 building. Either of the control centers can be used to control the entire system.[5]

Rolling stock

Adtranz C-100

Initially, the Skytrain rolling stock consisted of Adtranz C-100s, jointly built by Westinghouse and Adtranz (acquired by Bombardier). Although stations were designed to accommodate two-car trains, the C-100 trains operated in single units, without a second carriage per train, and the two innermost platform screen doors of each station were for emergency purposes (the trains stopped at the outer half of each station, with two doors on each half).

  • An Adtranz C-100 car as seen inside the landside station of Terminal 1
  • Interior of a C-100 car on the Skytrain, as seen in the 90s.
  • The original platform screen doors used before the upgrading project on the Skytrain in 2006

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Crystal Mover
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Crystal Mover
Skytrain car no. 07 at a stabling yard, 2012
Interior of the Skytrain Crystal Mover on PMS/North; trains on PMS/South feature orange seats
In serviceMarch 2006 (2006-03) – present
ManufacturerMitsubishi Heavy Industries
Built atMihara, Hiroshima
Family nameCrystal Mover
ReplacedAdtranz C-100
Constructed2002 – 2006
2016 – 2019 (Expansion)
Entered service2006
Number built22 vehicles (22 trainsets)
Number in service22 vehicles (22 trainsets)
Formation1 – 3 per trainset
Fleet numbers01 – 22
Capacity8 seated, 107 standing
Operator(s)Changi Airport Group
Depot(s)Terminal 1 Depot
Line(s) servedChangi Airport Skytrain
Specifications
Car body constructionWelded aluminium
Car length11.84 m (38.8 ft)
Width2.8 m (9.2 ft)
Height2.0 m (6.6 ft)
Doors4 per car
Maximum speed60 km/h (37 mph) (design)
50 km/h (31 mph) (service)
Weight15,000 kg (33,000 lb) per car
Traction systemMitsubishi IGBT-VVVF inverter vector control
Traction motorsThree phase AC induction motor 80 kW (110 hp)
Power output160 kW (210 hp)
Acceleration1.0 m/s2 (3.3 ft/s2)
Deceleration1.0 m/s2 (3.3 ft/s2) (service)
1.3 m/s2 (4.3 ft/s2) (emergency)
Electric system(s)750 V DC third rail
Braking system(s)Electric command pneumatic brake with regenerative brake with stand-by brake and parking brake (with variable load control and wheel slide prevention control)
Safety system(s)ATC, ATP and ATO
Coupling systemBergische Stahl Industrie
Track gaugeSide-mounted guideway with rubber tires

In 2002, work began on a new S$135 million Mitsubishi Crystal Mover-based system to accommodate the planned opening of Changi Airport Terminal 3 and the projected increase in demand as the airport expanded.[6] During the upgrade, the existing C-100 system continued operations on one of the tracks while the other was upgraded from December 2004 to 16 March 2006, after which the latter resumed operations while the former was closed for upgrading.[5] Full operations finally began in November 2007 when the lines serving Terminal 3 opened.[4]

Overview

Mitsubishi delivered 16 Crystal Mover vehicles to Singapore Changi Airport, ten of which are allocated to PMS/North and six to PMS/South. Five different designs with innovative external face images derived from the original Crystal Mover design were proposed to Changi Airport, with the final vehicle design being awarded the Good Design Award in 2006.[5]

The Crystal Mover was also designed for flexible response to a variety of operations, from a one car operation to multiple coupled-car operations, depending upon the system requirements; this is seen in the use of dual-car operations for PMS/North landside and PMS/South, single-car operations for PMS/North airside and triple-car operations for T2-T3 services on PMS/North.[5]

Exterior-wise, the Crystal Mover vehicles are painted in a base livery of silver and grey, blending in with the color scheme of the airport terminal buildings. However, many units are decorated with colorful promotional liveries. Trains come in two interior color schemes: blue for PMS/North trains, and orange for PMS/South trains.[4]

All Crystal Mover vehicles have four wide-opening doors, two on each side. The interior features longitudinal seating at both ends of the car for a total of 8 seats, with a spacious standing area in the middle of the car for baggage and trolleys. At the ends of every car, an equipment housing offers a flat platform for additional seating. Trains were also fitted with two LED text displays located near the ceiling which display travel information, and two media screens displaying Airport promotional material.[4]

Train formation

The configuration of a Mitubishi Crystal Mover in revenue service is M in single car mode and M-M in dual car mode

Cars of Mitubishi Crystal Mover
car type Motor Collector Shoe car length
mm ft in
M✓✓ 41 ft 2.1 in

Signalling and operations

In the Changi Airport Skytrain, the signaling system and the automatic operation system utilise a train detection system based on the check-in/check-out principle, an ATC and an overrun protection system (ORP) by on-board ATP. When a train enters the ORP signal aspect section, the on-board ATP device creates the ORP control pattern in a manner which protects the fixed-point stop control pattern by the on-board ATO. If the train speed overshoots the ORP control pattern, the emergency brake is activated, safely bringing the trainto an emergency stop.[5]

The system also uses a by-pass operation between Terminals 2 and 3, where trains are placed under synchronous control so that they depart and arrive at each corresponding station at the same time. Specifically, the station departing times are synchronized by the count of the station dwell time which is automatically adjusted based on the stoppage state at the station. Also, the train speed is adjusted by ATO which recognizes signals which are sent from the way-side control devices to the on-board control device at the time of departure from a station so that the crossing times in the bypass section are optimized and their arrival times are synchronized.[5]

Redevelopment works

In 2015, one portion of the Changi Airport Skytrain system connecting Station B and E was suspended due to construction works for Jewel Changi Airport. Passengers in the public area had to use the mezzanine level bridge along Changi Airport MRT station, and the Skytrain operating between Station A and F in the airside.[7] Landside operations for services between stations A and F only resumed in July 2019.

Expansion

To increase the system capacity of the Skytrain, six new train cars have been purchased which subsequently entered service in 2019. The existing shuttle between Terminals 2 and 3 was upgraded to a three-car system, whereas the shuttle between Terminal 3 and 3 South was upgraded to a two-car system.[8]

Terminal 4, opened in 2017, is not served by the Skytrain. However, the future Terminal 5 will also have an underground automated people mover system.[9]

References
  1. "Singapore Changi Airport I, II, III". CPG Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
  2. "Transfer Between Terminals". www.changiairport.com.
  3. "Changi International Airport". National Library Board. 2001. Archived from the original on 22 April 2007.
  4. "Changi Airport Skytrain". Land Transport Guru.
  5. "Automated People Mover "Crystal Mover" for Singapore Changi International Airport" (PDF). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
  6. "Milestones of Changi Airport". Changi Airport. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007.
  7. "Getting between Terminal 2 & Terminal 3". Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  8. "Skytrain at Changi Airport to get systems upgrade, more cabins". Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  9. "Decades of groundwork for T5 to take flight". The Straits Times. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
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