Extra escalators for Little India, Toa Payoh MRT station exits 

SINGAPORE - An additional escalator is being installed at one exit each at Little India and Toa Payoh MRT stations to improve accessibility so that commuters do not have to walk down stairs to get into the stations.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will finish installing a second escalator at Exit E of Little India station by the end of 2023, and complete works at Exit C of Toa Payoh station by the second quarter of 2024.

Currently, commuters can take an escalator up to the street level at those exits, but have to use a staircase to enter the stations.

The staircase replacement works are part of LTA’s broader rail enhancement programme for the North-South and East-West Lines, North East Line, Circle Line and Sengkang-Punggol LRT to improve the commuting experience for passengers, an LTA spokesman said on Monday in response to queries.

Other works under the programme include providing railings and barriers at Dhoby Ghaut and one-north stations by the fourth quarter of 2023. Covered linkways at Tampines and Bukit Gombak stations are slated to be extended by the first quarter of 2024.

These improvement works will be carried out progressively and are being scoped into different contracts, the LTA spokesman added.

Commuters such as Ms Chetana Thapa welcomed the installation of escalators, which was first reported in Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao.

Every month, the 28-year-old housewife visits a pawn shop near Buffalo Road in Little India.

Sometimes, she would take her daughter along with her in a pram, and they would have to take a long detour to the lift at Exit C to enter Little India station.

The new escalator will make it more convenient when she takes her daughter out with her to run errands, she said.

Similarly, Mr Neppoliyan Nagarajayan, a 29-year-old factory worker who uses Exit E at Little India station to get to Tekka Centre for his monthly grocery runs, said it will soon be convenient for him to make his way down to the concourse level of the station while carrying heavy items.

The staircase is often heavily used in the late mornings and evenings as templegoers usually visit the nearby Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple and Sri Veerama Kaliamman Temple, then head back home during those timings, said Mr Nagarajayan.

He added that the new escalator will smoothen the flow of commuters into the station.

Housewife May Lee, 65, said a downward-moving escalator is important for commuters in this area as the staircase at the exit often gets wet when it rains, posing a danger to commuters who may slip and fall when they walk down the stairs.

Mr Ray Chen, a 61-year-old part-time contractor who frequently alights at Toa Payoh station to visit Toa Payoh Public Library and shops in the vicinity, is looking forward to the added convenience that an escalator will bring.

He is glad that he will not need to walk a longer distance to the lift at Exit D whenever he is with his granddaughter and carrying heavy bags of groceries.

“My granddaughter is very active... It is tough to carry so many things while making sure she is going down the stairs safely... so, the new escalator will be very helpful for me,” added Mr Chen.

Madam Josephine Koo, a 52-year-old customer services officer, said the escalator will be particularly useful for the elderly as Toa Payoh is an ageing town.

Separately, the LTA spokesman said the authority has refurbished the toilets at Bugis, Lavender, Yishun, Woodlands, Sembawang and Kranji stations.

Works to refurbish the toilets at Clementi, Raffles Place, Dhoby Ghaut, City Hall, Bukit Gombak and Admiralty stations are still ongoing, she added.