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11 more Thomson-East Coast Line stations set to open by year-end

A composite image of the MRT's Thomson-East Coast Line next to a photo of an MRT station. (PHOTOS: Land Transport Authority)
Stage 3 of Thomson-East Coast Line is scheduled to be ready by the year-end. (PHOTOS: Land Transport Authority)

SINGAPORE — Stage 3 of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL3) is set to be launched by the end of this year after the Land Transport Authority (LTA) completed testing of the TEL3 signalling systems and handed over 11 stations to train operator SMRT.

In a post on Facebook on Wednesday (17 August), Transport Minister S Iswaran said, “Over the next few months, SMRT will carry out further tests, to ensure that all systems are operationally ready for service by end of this year.”

The 11 TEL3 stations that are scheduled to be opened later this year are Stevens, Napier, Orchard Boulevard, Orchard, Great World, Havelock, Outram Park, Maxwell, Shenton Way, Marina Bay, and Gardens by the Bay. Two other TEL3 stations, Mount Pleasant and Marina South, will open after 2022 when housing developments are completed.

According to LTA, TEL3 will lead to significant time savings – for example, a commuter travelling via TEL3 between Springleaf and Great World City can save over 40 per cent in travel time compared with a 60-minute journey by bus and MRT currently.

TEL launch in stages

The first stage of TEL was opened in January 2020 with three stations: Woodlands North, Woodlands, and Woodlands South.

This was followed by the launch of six more stations during the second stage of TEL in August 2021 with six stations: Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson, and Caldecott.

Stage 4 of TEL will be launched with seven stations around 2024, with the Founders’ Memorial station to open in tandem with the completion of Founders’ Memorial around 2027. Stage 5 of TEL will open with two stations around 2025.

The last phase of TEL will be its extension to Changi Airport by 2040.

Currently, TEL connects to the North-South Line (NSL) via Woodlands and Circle Line (CCL) via Caldecott. It will eventually link up with the East-West Line (EWL), North East Line (NEL), Downtown Line (DTL) and the Cross Island Line (CRL).

When fully completed, about 1 million commuters are expected to use TEL daily.

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