SINGAPORE: The railway tracks after Pasir Ris MRT station will be extended to include a new section that will allow for a quicker turnaround of trains, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Friday (Jun 29).
This means commuters can look forward to shorter waiting times on the East-West Line (EWL), it added.
Pasir Ris is a terminal station for the EWL, being the last stop on the east end of the line.
LTA will add what’s known as a railway turnback with cross-tracks, which allows trains to switch between the two bounds more efficiently.
“This means that trains arriving at Pasir Ris can turn around to serve the other bound more quickly than before,” it said.
Tracks near Pasir Ris MRT station to be extended to facilitate faster train turnarounds. (Image: LTA)
Work on the new extension will start in 2019.
“When completed in 2023, the new turnback, together with the EWL’s new Communications-Based Train Control signalling system, will allow EWL trains to run at shorter headways to meet future increases in ridership demand,” said LTA in a media release.
It added that to facilitate construction, a strip of undeveloped land beyond Pasir Ris station was gazetted on Friday. This is at the edge of Pasir Ris Park and LTA said steps will be taken to minimise the project’s impact on the environment.
“LTA will implement a suite of environment management and monitoring measures such as the erection of noise barriers, and limiting construction activities near/at Pasir Ris Park to between 9am and 6pm,” it said.
