LTA awards $530m contract for Cross Island Line’s Turf City station; work to start in Q3 2024
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Passenger service at the underground station, which will be located in Turf Club Road, is set to begin in 2032.
PHOTO: LTA
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SINGAPORE – The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a civil contract of about $530 million for the design and construction of Turf City MRT station in Bukit Timah in the second phase of the Cross Island Line (CRL).
The contract was awarded to a joint venture between Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (Singapore) and Obayashi Corp, said LTA in a statement on May 27.
Construction on the underground station, which will be located in Turf Club Road, will start in the third quarter of 2024, with passenger service set to begin in 2032.
When the station is ready, commuting between Turf City and Pasir Ris Central will take only 35 minutes on the CRL, instead of a one-hour journey through the Downtown and East-West lines.
Travelling to Jurong Lake District from Turf City will take 20 minutes, instead of 40 minutes via a bus ride and an MRT journey on the East-West Line.
LTA has said the joint venture and the two companies individually have established records in local rail projects.
The joint venture was previously awarded the contract for the bored tunnel between Fairways Drive and Sin Ming Walk under CRL Phase 2 in December 2022
Shanghai Tunnel Engineering is currently close to completing Katong Park and Bayshore stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), having also completed the TEL Shenton Way station in November 2022, said LTA.
Obayashi Corp previously constructed the North East Line Dhoby Ghaut station, added LTA.
On May 23, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee launched plans for Turf City,
The upcoming estate includes plans to develop 15,000 to 20,000 new homes in the next two or three decades.
Due to Turf City being an underground station, LTA has said construction works are expected to be challenging as a result of the differing soil conditions in the area, especially the harder ground conditions of the Bukit Timah granite formation, which requires the use of specialised techniques to carry out excavation safely.
Before excavation and construction works commence, earth retaining and stabilising structures will be installed to ensure safety and ground stability, said LTA.
LTA previously conducted an environmental impact assessment for works near Eng Neo Forest.
The assessment called upon nature groups to identify the flora and fauna in the surroundings of the site, and to develop measures to reduce environmental impact.
One measure is the erection of barriers along the road to prevent animals from wandering onto the road and to guide them towards forest patches.
Another road calming measure that will be rolled out is the installation of speed bumps and speed limit signs on construction site access roads during construction to remind drivers to slow down and to keep a lookout for wandering animals.
LTA said it will continue to include nature groups and other stakeholders to keep them informed about the construction progress and mitigation measures, as part of the environmental monitoring and management plan.
The CRL will be Singapore’s eighth MRT line, and will serve future developments in the eastern, north-eastern and western corridors, connecting major hubs such as Jurong Lake District, Punggol Digital District and Changi.
According to LTA, almost half of the stations on the CRL will be interchanges with other lines, providing convenience for commuters who travel across the rail network.
The fully underground MRT line will be constructed in three phases, said LTA.
Announced in 2019,
CRL Phase 2, which was announced in September 2022,
Engineering studies for CRL Phase 3 are ongoing, and more details will be announced after these studies are done.
