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Greater convenience for commuters living along Downtown Line 3

SINGAPORE — For 31-year-old Ubi resident Cherylyn Tan, trips to Bencoolen — where she works in a hotel — currently involve two buses, with the journey taking 40 minutes to an hour. But from Saturday (Oct 21), Ms Tan will be able to travel from home to her workplace in about 25 minutes using the Downtown Line 3.

Commuters en route to Bendemeer Station at the Downtown Line 3 Open House on 15 Oct, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah

Commuters en route to Bendemeer Station at the Downtown Line 3 Open House on 15 Oct, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah

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SINGAPORE — For 31-year-old Ubi resident Cherylyn Tan, trips to Bencoolen — where she works in a hotel — currently involve two buses, with the journey taking 40 minutes to an hour.

But from Saturday (Oct 21), Ms Tan will be able to travel from home to her workplace in about 25 minutes using the Downtown Line 3.

The walk from her home to Ubi station will take less than five minutes, as will the walk from Bencoolen to her workplace.

Ms Tan’s family, which includes her parents and younger brother, is among the 58,000 households that live within a 10-minute walk to a Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) station.

The DTL3 – the third stretch of the Downtown Line to open – consists of 16 stations from Fort Canning to Expo.

The first stretch of six stations from Chinatown to Bugis opened in Dec 2013 and the second leg from Bukit Panjang to Rochor opened two years later.

Like Ms Tan, a 36-year-old sales manager who only gave his name as Mr Wong, told TODAY that the new line will shave off travel time for him and his wife.

The Bedok North resident, who works near Harbourfront, currently takes about an hour to get to work. He either takes two buses, or a bus and train.

With the opening of Downtown Line 3, he can travel from Bedok North to Chinatown, then connect to Harbourfront on the North East Line – a journey which he estimates to take no more than 30 minutes.

“The time saved travelling means I can spend more time with the family at home. It’s also easier for the family to go downtown with the new line at our doorstep,” he added.

On Sunday (Oct 15), about 360,000 commuters like Ms Tan and Mr Wong got a sneak peek of the new stretch at the DTL3 open house.

The day got off to a colourful start when Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health Dr Lam Pin Min launched the Open House. Joined by parliamentary colleagues like Members of Parliament (Tampines) Cheng Li Hui and Baey Yam Keng, Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Dr Lam took part in activities such as dancing the cha-cha.

A train fault at Hillview station during lunchtime caused knock-on delays along Downtown Line 3, but festivities continued.

The programme incorporated an element of emergency preparedness.

At Bedok Reservoir, Tampines West and Geylang Bahru stations, visitors got to go on guided tours of the MRT Civil Defence shelters by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

Half of the 16 stations on DTL3 can double up as Civil Defence shelters, adding to 40 other stations across the rail network, such as Hougang, City Hall, and Bukit Panjang.

Facilities in the MRT shelters include protective blast doors, dry toilet systems and decontamination chambers.

The SCDF conducted similar tours prior to the opening of the first stage of the Downtown Line.

Speaking to reporters at the Open House, Mr Baey said that residents in Tampines welcomed the opening of Tampines East and Tampines West stations.

Residents “have tolerated the inconvenience of the (DTL’s) construction” and the new stations – which also serve Tampines Junior College and Temasek Polytechnic - “will bring a lot of buzz and activity to the area”, he said.

With the DTL3’s opening on Saturday, the 42km line will become the Republic’s longest driverless underground MRT line. Daily ridership for the entire line is expected to be around 500,000, said the Land Transport Authority.

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