TEL Stage 4 from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore to open on June 23
Passenger service on the fourth stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore will start on June 23, improving accessibility for those living in and travelling to Singapore’s East Coast region, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said on March 5.
The seven new MRT stations on the 10.8km stretch are Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap and Bayshore. They will be connected to the first three stages of TEL, from Woodlands North to Gardens by the Bay.
Passengers can use them for free as part of a preview on June 21, Mr Chee said during a debate on the Ministry of Transport’s (MOT) budget.
In a statement, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said passengers can do so between 10am and 9pm on the preview day to familiarise themselves with the stations.
With the opening of TEL Stage 4, about 235,000 households will be within a 10-minute walk of a TEL station, said LTA.
LTA said commuters can save up to 50 per cent of travelling time when using the MRT line. For example, a Marine Parade resident will take 20 minutes to reach Shenton Way on the TEL, compared with the current 40 minutes by bus and train.
On Feb 6, LTA said it had handed over the stations to TEL operator SMRT for a final set of tests.
This involves integrating TEL Stage 4 with the first three stages of the rail line. SMRT will also run further tests to get its operations ready to serve passengers.
Civil and structural works for the stations, and the testing and commissioning of trains and systems, are done.
LTA told The Straits Times that after the opening of TEL Stage 4, trains will arrive at a frequency of three minutes during peak hours and six minutes at non-peak hours.
The opening of TEL Stage 4 will bring Singapore’s rail network to over 210km. The Government’s target is to expand it to about 360km by the 2030s, putting eight in 10 households within 10 minutes of a train station.
Several more MRT stations will be completed in 2026.
These are the Bedok South and Sungei Bedok stations, which form the fifth and final stage of the TEL, and the Xilin station on a Downtown Line (DTL) extension.
The 2.2km extension will link the existing Expo station to Xilin, and then Sungei Bedok, which will be an interchange stop for the TEL and DTL.
The East Coast Integrated Depot for trains and buses, which will have connecting tunnels to the TEL and DTL, as well as viaducts from the East-West Line, will also be ready by 2026.
LTA had previously said TEL Stage 5 and the depot would be ready in 2025, a year later than the original 2024 deadline owing to delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The DTL extension was also due to be ready by 2025.
When contacted, LTA said the delays have been further aggravated by construction challenges of tunnelling near existing critical infrastructure. It did not specify what these are.
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