Inauguration of Singapore's North East line automatic
metro

The new 20-km underground line, the first automatic metro line
in Singapore, comprises 16 stations. The contracts for the fully
automatic train control system and the 25 x 6 car trainsets were
awarded to ALSTOM in 1997 and 1998 respectively.


The fully automatic metro system, the largest in the world
in terms of passenger capacity, has been in passenger service
since 20th June 2003. It has been described as the 'way to go'
for public transportation by Hans Rat, secretary general of UITP,
the international association of public transport. In a
statement, the association predicted that more and more cities
worldwide will follow Singapore's recent example.


In just over two months of service, the highly complex
system has been running smoothly with a level of reliability of
99.5 %, 97 % schedule adherence within 2 minutes, and an average
150,000 passengers per day.


ALSTOM is also supplying all the electrical and mechanical
equipment, including the rolling stock for Singapore's second
automatic metro line, the Circle Line. Once completed, this will
be the world's longest automatic metro line, with 40 km.

With more than 35 product lines and a presence in more than
60 countries, ALSTOM's Transport sector offers cutting-edge
products and services for new rolling stock, signaling, and
electrical and mechanical infrastructure as well as maintenance
and rehabilitation services to four distinct types of
customers: urban transit authorities and operators; intercity
passenger rail operators and rolling stock owners; rail freight
operators; and intercity railway infrastructure owners.
ALSTOM's Transport sector, with sales of 5.1 billion in
financial year 2002-2003, is among the world's leading
suppliers to the railway industry.

Press information:

Helen Connolly

Tel. +33 (0)1 41 66 91 43

helen.connolly@transport.alstom.com