TEL Stage 4: LTA to hand over stations to SMRT in early 2024 as work nears completion

SINGAPORE – Work on seven stations along Stage 4 of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) has been substantially completed, and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will begin handing the stations over to operator SMRT in early 2024.

LTA on Dec 13 said it is carrying out train testing on TEL Stage 4, which will open in 2024 and provide residents in the east with MRT access at these stations: Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap and Bayshore.

SMRT will carry out further tests before the line is opened for passenger service. Asked how long the testing would take, LTA said this depends on several factors, such as the number of stations along the new stretch.

After the new stations have been handed over, LTA said an operator would need a few months for staff familiarisation, as well as operation and maintenance training, including incident management.

Industry sources said train testing usually takes between three and six months to be completed.

For TEL Stage 3, LTA handed over the stations to SMRT on Aug 17, 2022. The line

opened on Nov 13 that year.

The LTA provided other updates on the rail network in its 2023 rail report, including for both LRT lines.

Two new trains for the Bukit Panjang LRT will arrive in 2024, following the

first two of 19 new trains that arrived in 2022.

They will be put into service after testing is completed, and replace the first-generation trains that have been in service since 1999, said LTA.

LTA added that it has completed upgrading on two of the 13 second-generation trains that were rolled out in 2015.

They have a new signalling system that allows trains to run at shorter intervals and it is slated to be ready by 2026.

On the Sengkang-Punggol LRT line, 25 new two-car LRT trains will be delivered from 2024 to replace the existing trains.

This will be accompanied by an expansion of Sengkang Depot, and changes to improve the commuter flow at Sengkang LRT station, said LTA.

Currently, there is only one train-stopping location per platform, where commuters can either board an eastbound or westbound train.

With the improvements, there will be two train-stopping locations per platform, allowing each of the four routes serving Sengkang LRT station to have a designated train-stopping location. Additional signs and half-height barriers will be installed to facilitate this.

On the North East Line extension from Punggol station to Punggol Coast, which will also open in 2024, LTA said structural works for the new station and tunnels are “substantially completed”. Some station facade and interior architectural works, as well as electrical and mechanical installation works, are ongoing.

The authority added that construction work on King Albert Park, Clementi and West Coast stations for the second phase of the Cross Island Line (CRL) is expected to start in the first quarter of 2024, with tenders for the remaining three stations – Jurong Lake District, Maju and Turf City – to be awarded in the same year.

In 2023, construction of the Jurong Region Line, Phase 1 of the CRL, and the CRL Punggol extension began, LTA noted.

By 2030, these efforts will add more than 50 new stations to the 200 MRT and LRT stations in use today, LTA said.

The rail network will expand from about 258km now to more than 330km by 2030, and to 360km in the 2030s.

For Siglap resident Tay Yi Xuan, 25, the opening of TEL Stage 4 will serve as another option for getting around the East Coast area.

“I am excited to find alternative routes to get to my usual haunts... It is always good to have more travel options,” said the arts manager.

Miss Tay added, however, that she would prefer to use the direct bus services from her home in Opera Estate to her office in Raffles Place, as well as to certain spots such as Marine Parade and Katong.

This is because bus stops near her home are relatively accessible and offer a variety of direct routes, compared with the longer walks she needs to take to Siglap MRT station, followed by a bus transfer to certain destinations, she said.