MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA

SINGAPORE - MRT passengers will need to bear with changes to train services along certain stretches of the East-West Line (EWL) in the coming years, as extensive modifications to three EWL stations – Tanah Merah, Expo and Changi Airport – are set to begin in the third quarter of 2026.

The modifications will convert the three EWL stations into Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) stations, as part of a larger plan to create a direct MRT connection from Changi Airport to Singapore’s city centre.

More details about this were released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on July 25.

LTA told The Straits Times that train service changes on the EWL will be needed to carve out additional engineering hours to carry out the works.

More information about the service changes will be made public after detailed planning is done, it said.

Alternative travel options, such as shuttle bus services, will be made available to minimise the impact on passengers, LTA added.

When converted, the stretch between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport stations will become part of a new TEL extension, which will pass through the future Terminal 5 (T5), where there will be a new station, and connect with the upcoming Sungei Bedok TEL station, which is slated to open in the second half of 2026.

This 14km extension is expected to be completed in the mid-2030s, LTA said in response to queries. This is the same period that T5 will open.

Currently, those taking the MRT between the city and the airport have to switch trains at Tanah Merah station. This is because Expo and Changi Airport stations are on a branch of the EWL that operates as a separate shuttle train service.

Works to modify Tanah Merah station into an interchange station between the EWL and TEL have been under way since 2016.

These works, which include building new viaducts, adding a new platform and expanding the concourse area, will be completed by the end of 2025.

With the new TEL extension, LTA said future passengers from the existing Changi Airport station and the new Changi T5 station will have seamless and convenient access to the TEL network.

For example, an MRT journey between Changi Airport and Gardens by the Bay will take 40 minutes with the new TEL extension, compared with an hour today.

LTA said the modifications to Tanah Merah, Expo and Changi Airport stations will involve changing out key systems such as signalling, communications and power supply.

At the same time, the three existing EWL stations and their connecting tunnels and viaducts will be altered to accommodate the new systems.

Work to integrate these new systems will be needed.

The alterations are necessary because the EWL and TEL run on different systems.

For instance, the EWL uses six-car trains with four doors per train car, while the TEL uses four-car trains with five doors per train car. This will require changes to be made to the station platform screen doors.

Additional engineering hours will also be needed to connect existing MRT tracks to new tracks leading to the future Changi T5 station, which will serve as an interchange between the TEL extension and the future Cross Island Line (CRL), LTA noted.

The CRL, Singapore’s longest fully underground line, will be extended by 5.8km to T5 from Aviation Park.

This will provide faster connections to key nodes such as the Punggol Digital District, as well as residential areas including Ang Mo Kio, Clementi and Hougang, LTA said.

The authority had awarded a $94.3 million contract to Chiu Teng Construction on July 14 to carry out the modifications to Tanah Merah, Expo and Changi Airport stations.

Five bids were submitted, but only two were shortlisted after a technical assessment. The other shortlisted bid was by engineering company Swee Builders for $80.8 million.

LTA said the contractor for the station modifications will carry out noise studies and put in place the necessary controls, such as noise barriers.

There will also be other measures to control dust, soil erosion and vibration during construction.

The new TEL extension will lengthen the MRT line from 43km to 57km.

It will also connect passengers from the airport to the upcoming Rapid Transit System Link between Woodlands North and Johor Bahru, which is expected to be operational by end-2026.

Correction note: An earlier version of this story stated that the modifications to Tanah Merah, Expo and Changi Airport stations are set to begin in the third quarter of 2025. This has been corrected to 2026. We are sorry for the error.