Thomson-East Coast Line: New MRT Links in the East

1.            The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is pleased to announce the rail alignment and station locations for the Eastern Region Line, which will run with the Thomson Line as a single line. When completed, this will be Singapore’s sixth rail line, to be known as the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).

2.            The 13-kilometre East Coast stretch of the TEL will connect commuters living in the eastern parts of Singapore and who are not directly served by the rail network currently, such as those in Tanjong Rhu, Siglap, Marine Parade, Upper East Coast and Bedok South, to the heart of the city. As part of the 43-kilometre long TEL, the East Coast stretch will also connect commuters to the North-South corridor. Fully underground, this new stretch will have nine stations, including one interchange station with the Downtown Line (DTL). In all, TEL will have 31 stations, of which seven are interchanges.

3.            In addition, LTA has finalised the alignment of the DTL3 Extension (DTL3e). This new extension will be 2.2-kilometre long and consist of two stations, including the interchange station with the East Coast stretch of TEL. It will improve public transport accessibility to the Changi Business Park and Expo areas. By linking the TEL and DTL, this extension also improves public transport connectivity in the eastern areas of Singapore, and helps relieve crowding on the East-West Line (EWL).

Time Savings and Greater Accessibility for Commuters in the Thomson and Eastern Areas of Singapore

4.            TEL will create new links in the east and bring about time savings for commuters who travel to the Central Business District today by bus, or to the northern part of Singapore. For instance, a resident from East Coast travelling to Orchard will almost halve his journey time from 75 minutes to 45 minutes. A Republic Polytechnic student staying at Marine Parade can reach home in an hour, 20 minutes faster than the bus ride currently.

5.            The TEL will boast the most number of entrances per station of our MRT lines, with an average of four entrances per station. As part of our efforts to improve first and last mile connectivity, some of the MRT station entrances on the East Coast stretch will also be connected to longer underpasses of up to 400 metres. These underpasses shelter commuters against the weather, reduce the time taken to walk to and from the station, and improve safety, particularly for the elderly and children, by removing the need to cross roads.

Several Firsts for Singapore’s Rail Network

6.            The world’s first four-in-one train and bus depot will be built with the TEL. This first-of-its-kind depot will house buses, as well as trains for the TEL, EWL and DTL. At 36 hectares, the four-in-one depot can house around 220 trains and 550 buses. While building such a depot involves complex planning and significant engineering challenges, by integrating the train and bus depots, we will save 44 hectares of land, or an area of approximately 60 football fields. 

7.            LTA will also build Singapore’s first underground bicycle parks at MRT stations. Located at four of the stations[1] along the East Coast stretch of the TEL, these bicycle parks will be useful for commuters who wish to cycle to the MRT stations from their home or workplace.

TEL East Coast Stretch to be Operational by 2023

8.            The East Coast stretch of TEL will be completed in two stages. The first seven stations from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore will be ready in 2023, while the remaining two stations, the DTL3e and the depot will be completed in 2024.

9.            When fully operational in 2024, the 31 stations on TEL are expected to serve about 500,000 commuters daily in the initial years, rising to one million commuters daily in the longer term.

Land Acquisition

10.         All efforts have been made to minimise land acquisition.  Unfortunately, the Government will still need to acquire six landed properties along Amber Road and one three-storey walk-up apartment along Tanjong Katong Road for the development of the TEL. In addition, nine part lots will be acquired.

11.         The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has gazetted the properties affected by acquisition today. Landowners who are affected will receive acquisition notices. SLA will work closely with affected owners and assist them throughout the acquisition process.

12.         The notifications of the lands affected by the acquisition have been published in the Gazette on 15 August 2014.  The Gazette Notification Nos. 2110, 2111 and 2112 dated 7 August 2014 may be found online at www.egazette.com.sg. The affected private properties are listed as follows:

* Vacant land. No street address available.

13.         Plans of the affected lands may be inspected during normal office hours at the office of the Collector of Land Revenue, Singapore Land Authority from Monday to Friday except Public Holidays. Any person who wishes to claim an interest in compensation on account of the acquisition, but has not received an acquisition notice, may contact the office of the Collector of Land Revenue, Singapore Land Authority at 1800 323 9829 to arrange for an inquiry to state the nature of his interests in the land, the amount and particulars of his claims to compensation for his interest, the basis or mode of valuation by which the amount claimed is arrived at and his objections, if any, to the measurements of the land to be acquired.

14.       Should you require additional information, you may also call the following hotlines:

i.          On Thomson-East Coast MRT Line         LTA Hotline: 1800 225 5582

ii.         On land acquisition matters                       SLA Hotline: 1800 323 9829