11 stations in 3rd stage of TEL to start operating by end of this year

All civil and structural works as well as systems integration and testing activities for the third stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) have been completed, with 11 new stations set to open by the end of this year.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it handed over the 11 stations to SMRT yesterday for the rail operator to carry out further testing on the signalling system over the next few months in preparation for the opening.

In March, Transport Minister S. Iswaran said the 11 new TEL stations, from Stevens to Marina Bay, as well as Gardens by the Bay, would begin operating in the second half of this year.

In response to media queries, LTA said the systems used for TEL Stage 3 have been rigorously tested to ensure they do not affect the safety and operations of existing MRT systems.

Initial testing of the signalling system was done on separate test servers that were segregated from the operational servers used for TEL stages 1 and 2, LTA said.

Integration testing was then carried out during engineering hours before the signalling software supplied by French train manufacturer Alstom was integrated into the operational servers for TEL stages 1 to 3.

Between Feb 26 and May 29, train services on the TEL started later on weekends to carve out additional engineering hours for these tests.

Singapore's sixth and newest rail line, which currently spans nine stations, has been beset by faults in recent months.

LTA yesterday shed more light on these disruptions.

On the morning of April 27, 50 commuters were stuck in a stalled train between Woodlands and Woodlands South stations for more than 1½ hours.

This was caused by a cable with damaged insulation on the train, LTA said, adding that checks on the TEL train fleet found that this was an isolated incident.

On May 19, a signal fault caused trains to move more slowly in both directions across the entire TEL, resulting in an additional 10 minutes of waiting time.

This was caused by network issues that occurred after server hard disks in the TEL's operation control centre were reinstalled following signalling tests. The issues have since been rectified, LTA said.

Finally, on July 6, a signal fault led to a 3½-hour disruption in train services along the entire TEL, leaving commuters stuck on six stalled trains for at least 40 minutes. The Straits Times understands that this was due to testing for TEL Stage 3.

The first stage of the TEL between Woodlands North and Woodlands South stations opened in January 2020, with the second stage - comprising six stations from Springleaf to Caldecott - opening in August last year.

TEL Stage 3 has 13 stations, but Mount Pleasant and Marina South stations will remain closed until housing developments around them are ready.

The last two stages of the TEL, Stage 4 and Stage 5, comprise 10 stations from Founder's Memorial to Sungei Bedok. They are expected to open around 2024 and 2025, aside from Founder's Memorial station, which will open in tandem with the actual memorial in 2027.

When the TEL is completed, more than 240,000 households will be within a 10-minute walk of a TEL station. It will also help to relieve crowding on the East-West and North-South lines.

For Mr Mohammed Sabir Ansari, 27, who lives in Shenton Way, the opening of TEL Stage 3 will give him a public transport option less than a minute's walk from his home.

"I'm unbelievably excited," said the business development director, adding that he will most likely use the TEL three to four times a week to go to Great World City and Orchard Road in future.