Advanced preparatory works to make the Circle Line a complete loop, by joining HarbourFront station to Marina Bay station, have begun.
Tenders for the civil works will be awarded by year end, and construction will begin in the first quarter of next year, the Land Transport Authority said.
The 4km extension is to be completed in 2025 and will have three stations – Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward.
Preparatory works include relocating affected facilities at PSA Keppel Terminal for the construction of Keppel station, dismantling the platform canopy structures of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (which will be repaired and reinstated after the construction of Cantonment station) and the relocation of Shenton Way Bus Terminal for the construction of Prince Edward station.
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The extension project is likely to cost $3.7 billion, with the Government stating in its latest Budget book that the advanced works would cost $30.6 million.
The total cost translates to $925 million per km – more than three times the cost of the Circle Line, which cost an average of $300 million per km when it was completed in 2011.
Separately, another $2.3 billion has been allocated to expand the Kim Chuan depot to stable more trains that the extension will require.
The three additional stations will reach out to new commuters. Keppel station will serve commuters at Keppel Distripark, Cantonment station will serve Spottiswoode Park Estate and Prince Edward station will be near Palmer Road, where heritage landmarks are.
Besides reaching new commuters, the extension will allow those travelling between the south-western and south-eastern ends of the line – such as from Pasir Panjang to Nicoll Highway – to have more direct and quicker access.
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As for the 2km-long North East Line Extension, which will serve the developing Punggol North, the LTA is in the final stages of engineering and design studies. In the latest Budget book, $6.2 million has been slated for these studies.
LTA said the line “will be built in tandem with the developments there so that future residents in Punggol North will have train access to the city centre as well as other parts of Singapore”.
The extension, which is likely to have two stops, is expected to be completed by 2030. Punggol North will be a mixed-used area. It is slated to be an “enterprise district” housing digital and cyber-security industries.
This article by The Straits Times was published in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.
