New Punggol Coast MRT station opens, cutting travel time to city centre

SINGAPORE – The opening of the new Punggol Coast MRT station will allow trains on the North East Line (NEL) to run at a higher frequency, shortening waiting times for commuters during peak hours, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat on Dec 10.

Punggol Coast opened for service at 3pm.

The new terminal station of the 22km NEL

will serve passengers travelling to the Punggol Digital District and the Singapore Institute of Technology’s (SIT) Punggol campus, as well as the upcoming Punggol Coast Mall.

Its opening will shorten commutes to the city centre by about 15 minutes for residents living nearby. For instance, it will take about 45 minutes to travel from Punggol North to Outram Park, down from about 60 minutes previously.

Punggol Coast station has two entrances, one in New Punggol Road and the other within the Punggol Digital District.

There are covered linkways from the station to nearby bus stops, taxi stands, and pick-up and drop-off points.

Cyclists can make use of two bicycle parking areas at the station’s doorstep which have 300 spaces in all. 

The opening of Punggol Coast, a 1.6km extension from the existing Punggol station, brings the total number of stations on the NEL to 17. More than 200,000 households are within a 10-minute walk from a station along the NEL, which is run by SBS Transit.

The NEL and the Sengkang-Punggol LRT have catalysed the growth of the entire north-east region, said Mr Chee in a speech at an event to open the station.

Compared with when the NEL opened in 2003, “nearly every station along the line is home to a lively town centre”, Mr Chee noted. “I have no doubt that before long, Punggol Coast station will be just as vibrant.”

About 3,800 SIT students have moved to

the Punggol campus

so far, with the remaining 8,200 expected to relocate by early May 2025, an SIT spokesperson told The Straits Times in November.

Tenants of JTC Business Park, which can accommodate up to 28,000 people, will move in from the first quarter of 2025, said JTC Corporation, the master planner and developer of the Punggol Digital District.

SBS Transit group chief executive Jeffrey Sim said the operator will monitor ridership data and increase the frequency of trains when needed to keep pace with demand.

Trains on the NEL now run at two-minute intervals during peak hours.

Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, also attended the opening ceremony on Dec 10.

The new station “brings Punggol closer to the rest of Singapore”, he said, outlining other initiatives to improve connectivity for residents, including new bus services and new roads like Punggol North Avenue.

SM Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, highlighted the sustainable features of the station, which include sleep mode-enabled lifts and LED lighting systems.

These features will cut about 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, equivalent to the emissions from energy used by 500 four-room HDB flats, SM Teo noted.

Punggol Coast station, designed by the Land Transport Authority, is the first station to have a public space at its entrance to serve as a venue for events and community programmes.

The station took four years to design and six years to build, including a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Chee said the opening of every new MRT station represents the culmination of almost two decades of effort, from the initial stages of planning and design to construction and testing.

“Like other transport projects such as Tuas Port and Changi Airport Terminal 5, our MRT projects can span multiple terms of government and require good coordination across agencies to bring these ideas to fruition,” he added.

Noting that residents are looking forward to the Cross Island Line (CRL) – Punggol Extension, which will be ready in 2032, Mr Chee said provisions were made for an interchange with an additional rail line at Punggol station well before the NEL was completed more than 20 years ago.

This shows the long-term planning behind Singapore’s transport infrastructure development, he added.

Besides the CRL, Mr Chee listed various ongoing rail projects, including the sixth stage of the Circle Line, which

will be ready in the first half of 2026.

In the west, the Jurong Region Line

will open in phases from 2027,

he noted.

“These upcoming stations and potential future rail lines will serve as anchors for more vibrant towns across Singapore, benefiting many generations of Singaporeans,” he said.

About 50 people were waiting outside Punggol Coast station at 2.30pm. The crowd had doubled by 2.50pm.

The first train was waiting at the platform, and departed at 3.01pm.

On the train was Madam Catherine Wong, who had just visited her son who lives close to Punggol Coast station. The 69-year-old housewife said the station’s opening would make it more convenient for her and her husband to visit their son, as they will no longer have to alight at Punggol station and take a bus to his home.

Mr Suren Sandran, 34, is moving into his BTO flat – a 10-minute walk from the station – in three weeks. The teacher at a primary school in Sengkang was visiting his new flat and decided to walk to the new station to time his journey.

“I am moving in three weeks’ time and the station is open, just nice,” said Mr Suren, who added that it will be convenient for him to take the train to work.