Cross Island Line to run directly under nature reserve
Move will cut travel time, save $2b in construction cost, and be more environmentally friendly in long run
The Cross Island MRT Line will run directly under Singapore's largest nature reserve, instead of skirting around it.
Announcing its decision yesterday, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said the direct alignment will see tunnels going 70m below the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Both options - going directly under or skirting around the reserve - are considered viable after an in-depth study, but nature groups had strongly called for the skirting alignment to avoid affecting flora and fauna in the gazetted reserve near MacRitchie Reservoir.
The MOT said the direct alignment will result in total travel time being six minutes shorter than the skirting option.
For those travelling through the middle segment of the line, the direct alignment will also result in lower fares.
The construction cost is expected to be $2 billion lower in the direct route.
The ministry added that the direct route will be more environmentally friendly in the long run as it "has lower energy consumption".
The 50km Cross Island Line (CRL) will run from Changi to Jurong and will serve estates such as Pasir Ris, Ang Mo Kio and Clementi. It is expected to have an initial ridership of 600,000 a day when it is completed by 2031.
The line was announced in early 2013, and preliminary plans showed it running under primary and secondary forests in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Nature groups, alarmed by the potential environmental harm from the construction and operation of an underground MRT line right across the reserve, suggested it be built along Lornie Road, skirting the reserve.
The Land Transport Authority commissioned a two-phase environmental impact assessment for both alignment options in 2014.
MEASURES
Yesterday, the MOT also outlined measures to mitigate the line's environmental impacts.
Tunnelling as deep as 70m below the reserve will ensure work is carried out through hard rock, far from flora and fauna on the surface.
No surface works will be done in the reserve, it said, noting that MRT tunnels are typically 20m to 30m underground.
There will be two worksites outside the reserve: one along Island Club Road and another on the western edge of the reserve across from the Pan-Island Expressway.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min told reporters "the environment assessment has shown that both alignments are feasible", but the skirting option would result in longer travel time, additional construction cost and expected higher commuter fares.
Asked about a potentially unfavourable effect the direct alignment would have on network capacity factor - a fare adjustment component that takes into account the capacity of a transport service vis-a-vis actual usage - because it goes through nearly 4km of unpopulated area under the nature reserve, Dr Lam said: "That is a separate issue... we will address that subsequently."
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