$6.8b East Coast line by 2024
9-station extension of Thomson Line will provide access to East Coast Park
By Christopher Tan, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
9-station extension of Thomson Line will provide access to East Coast Park
By Christopher Tan, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
A NEW addition to Singapore's expanding rail network was announced yesterday - a 13km, nine-station line tracing the east coast shoreline which, for the first time, will allow picnickers to get to East Coast Park by MRT.
Extending from the recently announced Thomson Line - which has now been renamed the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) - it is scheduled to be completed by 2024.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew revealed the plans yesterday at the Marina South Pier station - an extension of the North-South Line which will open soon. He said the eastern leg of the TEL is expected to cost $6.8 billion.
Mr Lui said the line will "run almost parallel" to the East-West Line and the future Downtown Line 3, adding: "When completed, rail capacity along the East-West corridor will increase by about 45 per cent."
Travel pattern studies have shown that this corridor accounts for the bulk of morning peak period volume.
First announced by then Communications Minister Yeo Cheow Tong in 2001, the eastern leg of the TEL will go through areas such as Tanjong Rhu, Marine Parade and Siglap. It will serve several residential estates, such as condos in Tanjong Rhu and Bayshore, Housing Board flats in Marine Parade and Bedok South, and low-rise developments in Amber and Tanjong Katong roads.
Schools near the line include St Patrick's, CHIJ Katong, Tao Nan, Victoria School and St Andrew's Autism School. The line will also serve commercial and recreational facilities, such as the Singapore Indoor Stadium and Parkway Parade shopping centre.
Land Transport Authority chief executive Chew Hock Yong said there will be an underground walkway from Parkway Parade to the Marine Parade Community Building two streets away.
Using existing pedestrian underpasses, commuters will be able to get to East Coast Park, which is currently not near any MRT line.
The line will be the first in Singapore to offer underground bicycle parks at stations in Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Bayshore and Sungei Bedok.
Stations from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore will be completed by 2023, while Bedok South and Sungei Bedok stations will be ready by 2024 - along with a massive depot to be built next to the existing East-West Line depot in Upper Changi.
The facility will hold 220 trains from the East-West, Downtown and Thomson-East Coast lines, as well as 550 buses.At its eastern tip, the TEL will have an interchange with Downtown Line 3, which will extend by 2.2km and have a station in Xilin. This extension will be completed by 2024. The TEL may eventually be extended to join Changi Airport's planned Terminal 5.
Tenders are expected to be called next year with construction starting in 2016.
The project will require more than 24,000 sq m of land to be acquired. The Singapore Land Authority said residential and industrial properties account for only about a quarter of that. The rest will be from the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
Mr Kevin Kwee, the club's executive director, said the groundskeeping building, nursery and service areas will have to be moved.
But overall, the development "should be highly positive" as the club will have access to two MRT stations - Xilin and Sungei Bedok.
TEL will cut travel time for residents in east
New MRT line will shorten commute to areas like Orchard and the CBD
By Priscilla Goy And Lester Hio, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
New MRT line will shorten commute to areas like Orchard and the CBD
By Priscilla Goy And Lester Hio, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
COMMUTERS living in the east can expect significantly shorter travelling times to the city and north when the new Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) opens in 2024.
A trip from East Coast Park to Orchard should take just 45 minutes, down from the current 75 minutes by bus.
Those commuting from Marine Parade to the central business district (CBD) by bus and train will halve their travel time to 20 minutes.
Ms Hazwani Lee, 29, an accounts executive, who lives in Upper East Coast, said that she will be glad not to have to squeeze with other commuters on the way to work in Raffles Place.
"There's only the East-West line to Raffles Place from the east, and it's always crowded in the morning," she said.
Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan said that the new line is an exciting development for residents in his constituency, including those who own cars.
"There are hardly any buses in these areas and residents have told me that they'd be willing to switch to public transport if MRT stations are built nearby," he said.
Three stations of the TEL - the Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park and Amber stations - are in his constituency. "Even if they have cars, we should promote the use of public transport," he added.
Rail connectivity has been a bugbear of commuters in the area.
Currently, residents have to take a bus to their destination or find their way to an East-West Line station.
"It takes me about 20 minutes to take a bus to Tanah Merah MRT station but in the future I just need five minutes to walk to Bayshore station," said recent university graduate Adam He, 24. He lives across from the new Bayshore station and is starting work near one-north in Buona Vista.
Even some property owners affected by land acquisition welcomed the new line.
St Patrick's School principal Adolphus Tan said the new line would benefit staff and students.
The new Marine Terrace station will be sited in a corner of the school.
But his school will have to give up some of its land - about 411 sq m or the size of two tennis courts - for the new MRT line.
Mr Patrick Mowe, a member of the management committee at Laguna Park condominium in Marine Parade, also welcomed the development despite having to give up 744 sq m of land.
The condominium's main entrance will have to be relocated but no homes will be affected.
"With the convenience of having a station right at our doorstep, I think there'd be hardly any hesitation in giving up that small plot of land," he said.
Affected residents sad but resigned to moving out
By Lester Hio And Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
By Lester Hio And Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
EVERY morning for the last 50 years or so, Mr Sim Chiang Lee has walked down a flight of stairs from his apartment to the ground floor to lift the metal shutters of his provision shop.
The owner of Sin Aik Provision Store along Tanjong Katong Road has affectionately been known by residents in the area as "er ge" or second elder brother in Mandarin.
By February next year, however, the 79-year-old will have to find both a new home and a way to make a living.
His provision shop and apartment sit in a three-storey apartment block that will have to make way for the Amber station of the new Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).
"Where do you want me to move to? I've been living and working here since 1957," he said.
"Everyone knows me here. I can't bear to just pack up and leave my store and home."
The apartment block, which has a total of nine units, is one of the seven properties that will be fully acquired for the new MRT line, which will open in 2024. A total of over 24,000 sq m will be acquired from 15 properties.
Another resident, who wanted to be known only as Mr Cheng, shared Mr Sim's sentiments. Said the 66-year-old retiree: "I've lived here for over 40 years and watched all my children grow up here."
Six houses along Amber Road will also be fully acquired.
While residents declined to be quoted, the general sentiment was one of resignation, even from those who renovated their homes recently.
One resident, who has been living there for six years, said: "I just can't see myself living anywhere else."
Property owners affected by partial land acquisition, however, were more welcoming of the new MRT line.
Eight plots will be partially acquired, including 17,656 sq m - or about the size of two football fields - from Laguna National Golf & Country Club.
While their golf courses will not be affected, the club will have to move a maintenance shed.
When the line is completed, the club will have two stations nearby - Sungei Bedok of the new TEL line, and Xilin of the new Downtown Line extension.
"The land plot acquired is just 0.01 per cent of our total land area and the upsides outweigh the downsides," said Mr Patrick Bowers, the club's chief executive and managing director.
$6.2b four-in-one depot
By Christopher Tan, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
By Christopher Tan, The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2014
AN ARTIST'S impression of the "four-in-one" depot to be built next to the Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
It will hold 220 trains from three MRT lines - the East-West, Downtown and Thomson-East Coast - as well as 550 buses.
At 36ha, it is also three times the size of the underground Kim Chuan depot, for trains from the Circle Line.
The LTA pointed out that the new depot - which will have underground, surface and elevated levels - will save 44ha of land that would have been required if separate facilities were to be built.
Part of this space is a plot currently occupied by the East-West Line depot.
The new depot will cost $6.2 billion.
