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Single MRT line to link East Coast to Woodlands

SINGAPORE — By 2024, residents living along the island’s east coast can take a continuous MRT ride to the Central Business District or up north to places such as Woodlands, without having to switch trains or hop onto buses.

SINGAPORE — By 2024, residents living along the island’s east coast can take a continuous MRT ride to the Central Business District or up north to places such as Woodlands, without having to switch trains or hop onto buses.

Apart from greater convenience, travel times will be slashed too: For example, it will take only 45 minutes, instead of 75 minutes by bus, to travel from East Coast Park to Orchard. To get from Woodlands to Marine Parade, it will take about an hour, compared with 80 minutes by bus.

Yesterday, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that the Thomson Line and the Eastern Region Line will be renamed as a single line — the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).

It also gave details of the alignment of the nine-station eastern stretch, which will run from Sungei Bedok to Tanjong Rhu and include places such as Katong Park, Siglap and Bayshore.

Construction will start in 2016. Of the nine stations, seven are targeted for opening by 2023, while the Bedok South and Sungei Bedok Stations are slated for operations a year later.

The alignment of the 22-station northern stretch was announced previously; the line will serve areas such as Shenton Way, Havelock, Mount Pleasant, Upper Thomson and Woodlands South.

The eastern end of the Downtown Line will also be extended by two new stations to link up with the TEL, which will be fully underground.

Speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the Marina South Pier Station — which will be opened by the end of the year — Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said: “The Thomson Line and Eastern Region Line had been planned to run as one single line ... So, rather than having two separate names ... and to make it easier for commuters, we have decided to re-name (the lines) as the Thomson-East Coast Line.”

He added: “A single line, instead of two separate lines, will allow us to reap economies of scale and operational efficiencies from having common systems and trains.”

The 31-station TEL is budgeted to cost about S$24 billion. Mr Lui noted the construction challenges adding to costs for the eastern stretch, such as the extensive network of utilities structures and services. Significant sewage and canal diversions, as well as complex road work, will be required, he said.

Consisting of seven interchanges, the line is expected to serve half a million commuters daily in the initial years and up to twice the figure in the longer term.

On the fact that the TEL’s eastern stretch will serve several areas dominated by private properties, LTA CEO Chew Hock Yong noted that it is inevitable that MRT lines will run through high- and low-density areas to link up the population centres.

He added that he hopes the new line will encourage car owners living in these areas to switch to public transport. “We certainly hope to see (the) Singaporean population (being) less reliant on private cars, because there is only so much we can grow the road space,” he said.

He said that with the addition of the TEL, commuters would have the option of using another MRT line if there is disruption on a particular stretch.

Dr Park Byung Joon, head of the urban transport management programme at SIM University, said the new line would help reduce congestion on the East-West Line, given that the TEL’s eastern stretch runs almost parallel to the East-West Line.

Property analysts were divided on the impact of the new line on property prices. Some felt the noise and inconvenience caused by the construction of the line — which the LTA has pledged to minimise — would adversely affect the value of nearby properties. And when the stations are completed, properties that are near the line may also have issues with noise and privacy.

Others pointed out that prices of nearby properties would go up, given the increased convenience and connectivity.

The value of properties located within walking distance from a station is likely to rise the most, said Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director of SLP International Property Consultants. Owners of these properties looking to sell their units could increase asking prices by 5 per cent to 10 per cent, but these would be subject to other market forces, he added.

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