Delay to Downtown Line 2 cut; will open in Q1 2016

SINGAPORE — Additional manpower and tweaks to work processes have helped reduce construction delays to the Downtown Line 2 (DTL 2) by at least three months — and it is now set to open in the first quarter of 2016.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had announced that the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit line would be delayed by six months after main contractor Alpine Bau — which had been contracted to work on the King Albert Park, Sixth Avenue and Tan Kah Kee stations for S$670.74 million — went bust last year.

Construction of the 12-station DTL 2, which runs from Bukit Panjang to Rochor through the Bukit Timah corridor, started in July 2009 and was originally scheduled to be completed by December next year.

“The LTA and all the contractors will continue to work hard to recover more of the time and bring forward the opening to even earlier than the first quarter of 2016 ... many of them have been working around the clock, seven days a week. But all this acceleration must be done without compromising safety standards,” said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew during a site visit to the Bukit Panjang station yesterday.

Mr Lui added that the roads affected by the construction of DTL 2 will be restored by the third quarter of next year.

The LTA said innovative solutions had been put in place to speed up the work. For example, using wire saws instead of conventional breakers to cut the concrete struts produces less noise, allowing work to be carried out around the clock.

A control station will also be set up at the Little India station to enable basic testing for some of the stations to be done earlier.

Mr Lui said the LTA will be filing a claim with the insolvency administrator of Alpine Bau to recover the additional costs incurred to complete outstanding work. Work for the three stations came to a halt in June last year, when Alpine Bau — then Austria’s second-largest construction firm — filed for insolvency.

About S$470 million was spent appointing two new contractors for the stations — McConnell Dowell South-east Asia is working on the Sixth Avenue and King Albert Park stations, while SK E&C (Singapore) will complete the Tan Kah Kee station.

Construction work resumed on Aug 30 last year.

The two new contractors appointed have the relevant technical expertise and resources to pick up quickly and commence completion work for the three stations, the LTA said earlier.

DTL 2 — which is now close to 90 per cent complete — is the second of three phases in the entire Downtown Line, which will connect the north-western and eastern regions of Singapore to the CBD and Marina Bay.

DTL 1, with six stations stretching from Bugis to Chinatown, opened last December. Downtown Line 3, comprising 16 stations running from Fort Canning to Expo, is expected to open in 2017.

Once completed, the entire Downtown Line will be about 42km long with 34 stations and will serve an estimated half a million commuters daily.