Works on DTL3, Thomson line, progressing well

SINGAPORE — Construction works for Stage 3 of the Downtown Line (DTL3) and Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) are progressing well, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday, in an update on the various initiatives to expand and improve the train system. 

Construction of the 21km DTL3 is close to 94 per cent completed and “on schedule to open by 2017” .

Apart from electrical and mechanical installation works being carried out at the 16 stations, train testing has also started on some parts of the line, such as between Fort Canning and Kaki Bukit stations.

Works on the 43km Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), which is scheduled to open in stages from 2019, are also in full swing, the LTA added.

Meanwhile, third-rail replacement works on the North-South and East-West Lines are also “progressing well”. The third rail supplies electrical power to trains. About 53 per cent of the works are done, with the rest to be completed by next year.

Efforts are also underway to replace ageing timber sleepers — which support the tracks — on the East-West Line with concrete ones. Works are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

About 86 per cent of the timber sleepers found on viaducts between Boon Lay and Tiong Bahru stations, as well as between Lavender and Pasir Ris stations, have been replaced.

Once the re-sleepering works are completed, trains along those stretches will revert to their normal speeds, said the LTA. FARIS MOKHTAR