Changi Airport branch line takeover

With the release of the Land Transport Master Plan for 2040, the Land Transport Authority officially unveiled that the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) will take over the existing Changi Airport branch line of the East West Line (EWL). As part of the take over, conversion works will need to be done to the existing Changi Airport, Expo & Tanah Merah stations to accommodate the TEL rolling stock's differing dimensions. The current rolling stock used on the EWL features 6-car trains with 4-doorways per side. However, the TEL stock features 4-cars with 5-doorways per side. As such, the platform screen doors and gates will require retrofitting in order for the doorways to align properly.

The works will take some time, with the line take over likely coinciding with the on-going works at Tanah Merah station and the Expo-junction with the existing Changi depot and upcoming East Coast integrated depot.

Contract Awards - T301, T309, T310

The Land Transport Authority has awarded 3 Thomson-East Coast Line civil contracts today and 1 contract for the Downtown Line stage 3 extension.

An aerial view of the East Coast Depot which will house trains from three lines over three levels and have space for buses.
Source - Land Transport Authority

Tender schedule

The Thomson-East Coast Line was announced last August by Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew. In keeping to the timeline for construction to commence in 2016, tenders are expected to be floated this year and placed up for bids. The pre-qualification for bidding of the contracts was floated late last year. Here is a list of the expected release of the respective contract tenders:

Contract Number	Expected timeline for tender being called
T301 – Depot	2015 Quarter 2
T302 – Station E1 + tunnels	2015 Quarter 2
T303 – Tanjong Rhu (station E2)	2015 Quarter 2
T305 – Katong Park (station E3) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 2
T306 – Amber (station E4)	2015 Quarter 3
T307 – Marine Parade (station E5) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 1
T308 – Marine Terrace (station E6) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 2
T309 – Siglap (station E7)	2015 Quarter 3
T310 – Bayshore (station E8) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 2
T311 – Bedok South (station E9) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 3
T312 – Sungei Bedok (station E10) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 3
T313 – Xilin (station DT36) + tunnels	2015 Quarter 1
T315 – Tanah Merah modification	2015 Quarter 3

We have also sorted the table according to quarter for easy reference.