SEMBAWANG Engineers and Constructors Pte Ltd has been awarded a $378.2 million contract to design and build the Downtown Line 2 (DTL2) stations and tunnesls at Botanic Gardens and Stevens.

Construction of the stations is scheduled to begin in the third quarter and targeted to complete by 2015, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Wednesday.

LTA said the local firm has extensive transit construction experience in Singapore.

Its on-going Circle Line projects with LTA include contracts at West Coast, Pasir Panjang, Alexandra & Telok Blangah stations and fit out works and tunnels for HarbourFront, and Downtown Line Stage 1 project for Bayfront station and associated tunnels.

Built fully underground, the 16.6km long DTL2 is a rapid transit system with 12 stations and one depot.

When completed, DTL2 will link commuters from the Bukit Timah corridor to the North East Line (NEL), North South Line (NSL) and Circle Line (CCL), giving them greater accessibility to the rest of the island and significantly improving travel time.

It will link the north-western part of the island through DTL1 to commercial, residential and entertainment developments in the Marina Bay area.