HOLIDAY-makers will be able to 'ride-and-sail' when the North-south Line links up with the new international cruise centre being built in Marina South.

The new cruise terminal will be able to accommodate the world's largest ships. When completed, it can handle double the capacity of the current HarbourFront terminal.

But the ships will dock long before the trains pull into the station.

The cruise centre is slated to be completed in end-2011, while the MRT extension is expected to be completed only in 2015.

The relatively long construction time of the 1km, one-station extension has to do with the complexity of the job. For instance, the line goes below and criss-crosses the underground Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), a subterranean road linking the Kallang-Paya Lebar and Ayer Rajah expressways.

The North-South Line now runs from Jurong East to Marina Bay.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.