Roadshow: First look

This morning marked the beginning of the LTA Rail Story roadshows, starting at Parkway Parade mall. There are a number of panels offering limited, and slightly vague at best, information on the construction of underground MRT lines in Singapore. Little information from the construction of early lines is shown and the large focus is on the future and things coming ahead (most of which can't be seen yet) - the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line, Cross Island Line, Jurong Region Line and other extensions.

Some of the exhibits are interesting though, as they offer more details about the East Coast Line stations. While LTA mentions that you can see the layout of the station closest to you, what they mean are simply the existing maps for the stations updated with circles depicting the locations of the entrances and exits. Only a sole scale model of Marine Parade station is available. Nonetheless, if you'd like to take a look for yourself, do head on down while the roadshow is on.

A view of the scale model of Marine Parade station

Road shows and PICs

If you've not heard, the Land Transport Authority is holding four road shows till January next year. To be held at Parkway Parade (Marine Parade), Thomson Plaza (Upper Thomson), Bedok Mall (Bedok) and 112 Katong (Katong), the four road shows will feature exhibits on the MRT line construction - specifically looking at underground construction. We're also pleased to say that Project Information Centres (PICs) will be back on this line for the community to get more information from time to time. Do head down to the road show to find out more or stay tuned as we update the blog with photos of the exhibits.

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

Thomson East Coast Line (TEL)

This morning the Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew unveiled the rebranded Thomson Line and Eastern Region Line stations. The exact locations of the stations for the former Eastern Region Line were also announced.

Station location announcement?

The blog team was invited to attend the Ministerial Visit to Marina South Pier station this morning. We believe that as we head down to the site that the Minister of Transport will be making an important announcement - potentially announcing the final locations of the Eastern Region Line. Additionally, we expect Marina South Pier station to become operational in September 2014. Do stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Here's a hint for you via the Thomson Line posters by LTA.

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

Contract Awards - T251

Today the Land Transport Authority announced the award of contract T251 for the supply of electric trains for the Thomson (TSL) and Eastern Region Lines (ERL). A total of 91 units will be procured for the two lines under the contract, awarded to the consortium of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

A render of the train to be procured from Kawasaki - CSR Qingdao Sifang for the TSL & ERL