T302 - Founders' Memorial update Q1 2024

 

9 March 2024 - Founders' Memorial station buildings seen in the evening. About 95% of the
Gardens by the Bay - Bay East has since been hoarded up for the development of the
Founders' Memorial.

Contract T302 for the construction of Founders' Memorial station has about wrapped up with the station buildings illuminated at night and very little work being carried out. The site has slowly seen machinery and other heavy equipment being vacated and the roadways and parking lots reinstated above the station. Unfortunately, the majority of the Gardens by the Bay - Bay East park has been hoarded off for the construction of the Founders' Memorial development, making it impossible to get close to the completed station buildings without trespassing.

T302 - Founders' Memorial update Q2 2023 & GBME Shaft

 

2 July 2023 - An aerial view of the contract T302 work site for Founders' Memorial station.

During the release of images by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) phase 4 stations, contract T302's Founders' Memorial station was omitted from the update. This is likely due to the fact that Founders' Memorial was originally intended to be a shell station for fit out at a later stage. As such, its full construction was brought forward to tie in with the opening of the memorial. In lieu of an official update, we bring to you an interim update from July 2023 - sufficiently near enough to June to be considered as a late Q2 2023 update. As an added bonus, we're also covered the Gardens by the Bay Marina East escape shaft in this post.

T302 - Founders' Memorial Q1 2023 update

 

23 March 2023

Founders' Memorial station is a bit of a peculiar one, being planned with the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) stage 4 under contract E1003, but as a shell station box akin to that of Tagore on TEL2. Initially, the contract T302 called for the "Construction of Facility Building and tunnels for the TEL". Nonetheless, the station is on its way to being fully built out. Featuring 2 exits on either end of the station, work is progressing with the concrete structures completed. Equipment is being installed at both exits, with the northern exit also doubling up as a cooling plant.

T302 - 2022 Year end update

 

25 November 2022 - An aerial view of the station site.

03 December 2022

Founders' Memorial station was a late addition to the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) phase 4, having been planned initially as the Gardens Bay East shell station. It was announced for a full fit out on 7th January 2019 for revenue service commencement at a yet to be announced date. These works would enable trains to run through the station without stopping and the station to be able to open with minimal additional work, much like Mount Pleasant and Marina South stations on the neighbouring phase 3 section that was recently opened.

T302 - Founders' Memorial update

An aerial view of the Founders' Memorial station site.

Another aerial view of the station site.

On National Day, we conducted a virtual tour on the SG MRT Construction (SgMC) Instagram channel. During the tour, we covered several stations along the Thomson-East Coast Line and we'll be featuring some additional shots that we hadn't showcased on the Instagram channel during the tour.

TEL East-Coast section newsletter

 

Newsletter for Thomson-East Coast Line. This covers this sector
from Founders' Memorial up to Siglap.
Source: LTA

Over National Day, we held a virtual tour where we visited several station sites along the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) stages 4 and 5. Along the way, we saw some newsletters being displayed at nearby residential enclaves that updated on some of the construction progress. Do check out the images of the newsletter that we managed to obtain.

Construction progress at T302

As the Land Transport Authority (LTA) recently announced the addition of Founders' Memorial station, it was mentioned that the construction of the new addition would begin in 2019. This statement was misleading as Founders' Memorial station was being partially constructed as an interim facility building as a future, unopened station on the line under contract T302. It was subsequently added that this would be done by converting a planned facility building into an operational station.

Details of contract T302.
Source: LTA

Gardens Bay East renamed to Founders' Memorial

We have previously touched on a station located between Tanjong Rhu and Gardens by the Bay stations on the East Coast stretch of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), known as station E1 during the planning stages of the Eastern Region Line. The then working name of the station was Gardens Bay East, which has now been officially renamed as Founders' Memorial today, as announced by the Land Transport Authority.

Station renders

Render of Gardens Bay East station
Source: DP Architects

The consultant in charge of the Electrical & Architectural design for a stretch of the Thomson-East Coast Line from Gardens Bay East up to Marine Parade has recently released the first render of the station. Featuring entrance A which is situated in the park, DP Architects describes the design as "been developed with the concept of integrating into Garden’s Masterplan including the station entrances, cooling tower and vent shafts". Numerous water features can be seen in the render allowing the station entrance to blend into the lush green of the park. It is learned that the station may eventually open together with the rest of the stations along the East Coast stretch of the line. For renders of the other stations, do continue beyond the jump.

Gardens Bay East station unofficially unveiled

The MRT & LRT system map as envisioned by 2028 when the final phase of the Jurong Region Line becomes operational.
Source: LTA

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) recently updated the rail system map with the inclusion of the Jurong Region Line. The latest map also unofficially unveils the station at Marina East which is called Gardens Bay East.

Pre-qualification

Today the Land Transport Authority released the pre-qualification for contracts on the East Coast sector of the Thomson - East Coast Line. The following contracts are open for pre-qualification:

T301 - Construction of the 4-in-1 depot
T302 - Construction of station E1 and bored tunnels
T303 - Construction of Tanjong Rhu station (E2) and cut & cover tunnels
T305 - Construction of Katong Park station (E3) and bored tunnels
T306 - Construction of Amber station (E4)
T307 - Construction of Marine Parade station (E5) and cut & cover tunnels and bored tunnels
T308 - Construction of Marine Terrace station (E6) and cut & cover tunnels and bored tunnels
T309 - Construction of Siglap station (E7)
T310 - Construction of Bayshore station (E8) and cut & cover tunnels and bored tunnels
T311 - Construction of Bedok South station (E9) and bored tunnels
T312 - Construction of Sungei Bedok station (E10) and cut & cover tunnels
T313 - Construction of Xilin station (DT36) and cut & cover tunnels
T315 - Modifications to Tanah Merah station (EW4)

Of all the East Coast Line stations, Katong Park and Amber stations will feature stacked platforms. The rest of the stations will feature single-level platforms.

Beyond 2024

In the years leading up to the announcement of the East Coast Line, there have been numerous revisions and as such, misinformation as well. Some of the more notorious ones have been in regards to the line's length. In the line's second incarnation, it was announced to be 21km long with 12 stations in 2008. As of 2012, the line had an 'active' part of 13 km with 10 stations, which we now know as the unveiled East Coast sector of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). It was never increased again to 21km in 2013 as some sources would state, but neither did the authorities confirm that the active route was now 13km long. In view of this, what has happened to the remaining 8 km and 2 stations (or 3 depending on how you look at it)?

Indicative alignment from URA

Route predictions

Finally, here is our speculative map of the station locations for Eastern Region Line (ERL). We expect the announcement to be made sometime in August, so here are our take on the locations. Once again, we reiterate that these station locations are part of our prediction based on available information and site conditions, not the final location or announcement by relevant authorities.

Based on information that we have collected over the past few years, we have established the following parameters for ERL:

1.  The line will be 13km long, and will be a continuation of the Thomson Line from Gardens by the Bay.
2. There will be 10 stations, named E1 to E10, on the line. E10 on the eastern end of the line will connect directly to Changi Depot. The downtown line will also be extended by 1 station to E10, where it interchanges with the ERL
3.  One of the stations within the section of E1 – E5 will be a future station.

Looking into the available space, construction feasibility and the locations of soil investigations done in the past 2 years, we have come out with 2 possibilities of the overall alignment of ERL. The 2 options differ by the locations of E3 and E4. These 2 scenarios are the result of conflicting locations of SI. We suspect that one of the 2 possible alignments for this section is an alternative proposal for comparison and costing purposes. Similar exercises had been done for Thomson Line prior to the official announcement of the station locations.

Expected alignment

We expect the alignment to run northwards from Gardens by the Bay towards Tanjong Rhu, where it will run along Tanjong Rhu Road, Meyer Road, swing up to Amber Gardens, and merge back to Marine Parade Road just before Parkway Parade. The line then runs along Marine Parade Road until Bayshore where it gradually merges with Upper East Coast Road. The advantage of this alignment is that it avoids most of the old beach and sea wall, and hence reduces complexity during construction.

Here’s a run through of the locations of the MRT stations.

Predictive route - Option A

Golf Courses to make way for redevelopment

An article published today mentions that the Marina Golf Course is one of the two that will not have their lease extended once it expires. This is in line with station E1 along the Eastern Region Line (ERL) being planned as a future station. Soil Investigations in the Gardens by the Bay - Bay East indicate the likely spot of the station near the golf course. With the ERL expected to commence operations in the 2022-2023 range, this coincides with the redevelopment plans announced today as the Marina Golf Course lease expires in 2024. It hence makes sense for a station to be provisioned in a currently low-demand area to cater for the future expected developments largely like how Thomson (now Caldecott) and West Coast (now Haw Par Villa) stations on the Circle Line were conceived.

Where are the stations?

I suppose one of the more interesting aspects of the line at this stage is determining where the stations are. We know the start point and the end point, so now its getting the 10 points in between nailed down. As mentioned before, this corridor is kind of hard to build along with there being a lack of really long and straight roads through the majority of the areas (Marine Parade Rd is long and straight, yes, but only for the Marine Parade section - still need to get to Marine Parade). So anyway, a few trips through the year reveals some results - in the form of Soil Investigations (SI). These are tests done to obtain samples of the soil for analysis to see whether the soil types are hard or soft so that they can determine what type of  Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to use during construction among other things. So, a few notable locations..

Gardens by the Bay East

28 October 2013

28 October 2013

28 October 2013

This has been the hot area for SI rigs. In October, a total of 7 rigs and 13 other marked off sites dot the length of the park close to the golf course at Marina East. These correspond to the ventilation shaft area where the Thomson Line (TSL) leaves off for connection to the Eastern Region Line (ERL) in future.

Marine Parade Central

28 October 2013

28 October 2013

28 October 2013

Several SI rigs have been noted in the vicinity and some of the markings from previous rounds can be seen.

Marine Terrace

An abundance of markings from round 1 of the investigations have been noted here. Sitting about 1km away from Marine Parade Central, it seems to be optimal spacing away to place another station for Marine Parade here.

March 2013: The spread of Soil Investigations at Marine Terrace

Bayshore

Another hot spot for SI rigs along the road leading to the East Coast Parkway. Potential to spur development in the area.

21 March 2013: Along Bayshore Rd

21 March 2013: Details of the soil samples and depth

Temasek Secondary

The area around the school is mostly forested vegetation. A station here would enable development of the area and allow Bedok South to grow.

1 April 2013

Bedok Corner

Supposed to be the last stop before the combined depot with the East-West Line and Downtown Line. Several markings noticed near the food centre.

1 April 2013: Spread of SI markings at Bedok Corner