Sentosa Express

The Sentosa Express is a monorail line connecting Sentosa island to HarbourFront on the Singapore mainland across the waters.

This article is about the current monorail system connecting Sentosa and Singapore proper. For the dismantled monorail system that used to loop inside Sentosa from 1982 to 2005, see Sentosa Monorail.

Sentosa Express

Overview
LocaleSentosa, Singapore
Transit typeStraddle-beam monorail
Number of stations4
Operation
Began operation15 January 2007 (2007-01-15)
Operator(s)Sentosa Development Corporation
Technical
System length2.1 km (1.3 mi)

Built at a cost of S$140 million, development started in June 2003 and was completed in December 2006.[1] The fully elevated 2.1-kilometre (1.3-mile; per direction) two-way line (4.3-km total track length) and three out of four stations opened on 15 January 2007.[1] The fourth station, Resorts World (formerly Waterfront), opened on 1 February 2010.[2]

The monorail system, privately owned and operated by Sentosa Development Corporation, can move up to 4,000 passengers per hour per direction.[3]Since 2019, there were new announcements and some of the trains drives automatically.

Train timings

The daily first and last train timings of both VivoCity and Beach stations are 07:00 and 00:00 hours.[4] Trains run at an average frequency of three minutes throughout the day. The entire route, from one terminus to the other, takes eight minutes.[1]

Fares and ticketing

Travel within Sentosa (between Resorts World and Beach stations) and back to the mainland is free of charge, but travel from the mainland to Sentosa is charged.[5]

The single-day Sentosa Pass costing S$4 allows island entry and unlimited rides on the Sentosa Express.[4] The contactless RFID card can be purchased from automated ticketing machines at any operational Sentosa Express station. Payment can be made using cash, NETS or credit card.

Alternatively, visitors may also scan their CEPAS cards (used for electronic payments on public transport) on VivoCity station's faregates for entry payment from the mainland.

Stations
Sentosa Express Route Map
Station name / colour codeImageInterchanges within vicinityOpenedPast nameWorking name
SE1 VivoCity 15 January 2007SentosaGateway
SE2 Resorts World 1 February 2010WaterfrontSentosa
SE3 Imbiah 15 January 2007NoneMerlion
SE4 Beach
  • Beach Station Bus Terminal
 15 January 2007NonePalawan
Sentosa Express Track Diagram

S$26 million was spent on the elevated stations and the depot next to Beach station.[1] VivoCity station is the only station of the line on the mainland; the rest are on Sentosa. It is also the only one with full-height platform screen doors and a bay platform using the Spanish solution. The other stations on Sentosa island are not air-conditioned and are the first train stations in the country to utilise half height platform screen doors.

Like the Mass Rapid Transit, stations have bi-directional escalators and a lift to take passengers from the station concourse to the platforms, except VivoCity station which has both on the same level within VivoCity on the mainland.

VivoCity

The northern terminus VivoCity station (previously Sentosa @ VivoCity) is just a few levels above HarbourFront MRT station and the nearby HarbourFront Bus Interchange, located within the mall it is named after. Like Changi Airport and Stevens MRT stations, ticketing, faregates and platforms are all on the same level.

The station consists of a single track and a single platform handling Beach-bound trains for turnaround. Like the dismantled Sentosa Monorail stations in the past, it is one of two train stations in Singapore, the other being Choa Chu Kang LRT station, to feature an organised boarding system like the Spanish solution - passengers enter via one side of the train after passengers have alighted on the other side. Doors will open on the left side for passengers to alight, before opening the doors on the right for boarding passengers. This is the only station on the Sentosa Express that is air-conditioned and utilises full-height platform screen doors.

On 1 April 2019, the station was renamed to its present name to better reflect the nearby attractions and to showcase the attractions names.

Resorts World

Resorts World station is located in the northern region of Sentosa within Resorts World Sentosa. Platform A handles Beach-bound trains, while Platform B handles VivoCity-bound trains. There are two tracks and one island platform. As the line is left-hand drive, all train doors open on the right. It also connects to the Resorts World Sentosa.

The original station did not open for service before being demolished in December 2007, less than a year after the monorail line's opening, to make way for the construction of Resorts World Sentosa. The station was rebuilt and opened on 1 February 2010 under the name Waterfront station. On 1 April 2019, the station was renamed to its present name to better reflect the nearby attractions.

Imbiah

Imbiah station is located in the middle of Sentosa next to Imbiah Lookout. Platform A handles Beach-bound trains, while Platform B handles VivoCity-bound trains. There are two tracks and one island platform. As the line is left-hand drive, all train doors open on the right. The nearest attraction is Madame Tussauds Singapore and the Singapore Cable Car

Beach

The southern terminus Beach station is located between Siloso Beach and Palawan Beach at Sentosa. The station consists of a single track and a single Platform A handling VivoCity-bound trains for turnaround.

At the street level, there are beaches, shops, sea sports, pubs, cafés, and restaurants. It is connected to the Beach Station Transfer Hub for transfers to Beach Trams, SBS Transit Bus Service 123, Sentosa Golf Club Shuttle, Shuttle to HarborFront as well as Sentosa Internal Bus Services A, B & C.

The Beach Shuttles run along the Beach to Siloso Beach and Palawan and Tanjong Beaches. The shuttle loops at Siloso Beach and Tanjong Beach respectively. These trams also lay over at the Beach Station Transfer Hub for a short while for drivers to take a break before continuing their trip. The current fleet of these trams are Electric Trams that come in both Articulated and Non-Articulated. The fleet also includes 2 Volvo B12BLEA which are diesel.

Rolling stock
Main article: Hitachi small-type monorail (Sentosa Express)

The Sentosa Express is the first system to use Hitachi's small and straddle–type monorail with a capacity of about 184[1] passengers per train. With a total of seven two-car, 25-metre-long[1] trains of different colours each—namely green, orange, blue, purple, pink, red and yellow; the pink and red trains were added to the original fleet of four on 1 December 2009; the yellow train was added on 24 November 2017. In 2015, the orange train was painted into a multi-coloured livery train. In addition, there are 2 other yellow maintenance trains.

Daily, five monorails are picked to be deployed on the line while the other two remain in the depot.

Signalling

A switch over from Fixed-block Hitachi Digital ATP and ATS to Hitachi's Moving-block Wireless CBTC was conducted in November 2017.[6] The new CBTC system uses wireless communication to gather data on trains' locations and speeds so that the headway between trains can be reduced. This will reduce the travel times for passengers, and allowing more trains to run together for greater capacity. With the implementation of the driverless CBTC system, all train cab windows are opened except during manual operation. Train Captains are still present in the front train cab to manage and monitor the security on the train.

Incidents

On 4 December 2014, a technical fault caused power disruptions on the monorail and stalled a train during the night; several passengers were evacuated.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Fact Sheet for Sentosa Express". Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  2. http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,370675,00.html%5B%5D
  3. "Getting to Sentosa when Resorts World Sentosa opens" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  4. "Sentosa Express". Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
  5. "Sentosa Express". 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  6. "Hitachi secures contract to upgrade the Sentosa Express with its internationally-certified Wireless Signaling System (CBTC) and an additional train" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  7. "61 rescued from stalled Sentosa monorail train". Archived from the original on 8 December 2014.
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