SINGAPORE — SINGAPORE — Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) will start operations on Oct 21, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Wednesday (May 31), speeding up the journey from the north-western and eastern parts of Singapore to the city centre.

Comprising 16 stations over 21km, this third phase of the line — running almost parallel to the East-West Line (EWL) — rounds up the project, which started in 2007. A 2.2km extension with two new stations has been announced to join DTL with the Thomson-East Coast Line by 2024.

Fort Canning station is one of the 16 new stations on the DTL3. Photo: Cynthia Choo/TODAY

The upcoming stations start from Fort Canning, going northwards through Bencoolen, Jalan Besar and Bendemeer before heading east, through Geylang Bahru, MacPherson and Bedok North. 

It will wind through Tampines before ending at Expo Station.

For those who live and work around this stretch of the line, DTL3 will provide a transport link to the Central Business District, the Marina Bay area and the rest of the island.

DTL3’s opening will also throw up three new interchanges, with MacPherson linking to the Circle Line (CCL), and Tampines and Expo stations connected to the EWL.

The LTA said the first 10 stations on DTL3 from Fort Canning to Bedok North have obtained their Temporary Occupation Permits, while final fitting-out works are in progress at the remaining six stations.

Ms Miranda Yeo, 24, a civil servant who lives in Pasir Ris, said DTL3 will provide her “a much more direct route” to Jalan Besar and Geylang Bahru.

She usually takes a train to Lavender and walks to the Jalan Besar area for meals with her family.

“If I take the train from the Tampines East station, I can now go straight to Jalan Besar, and it might reduce my commute by about 10 minutes,” she said.

DTL3 is the longest stretch of the line to be completed. Once opened, the line will be the longest underground and driverless MRT line in Singapore at 42km long, surpassing the 35.7km-long CCL.

The Upper Changi station is the longest station on the DTL3 at 205m. It has four entrances and comprises three levels — concourse, intermediate and platform. 

The Bencoolen station, with six levels going 43m underground, will be the deepest station on the entire rail network. It will have an underground linkway connected to the Bras Basah station on the CCL, which will be lined with food and beverage stalls, said the LTA.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who toured the Fort Canning, Bencoolen and MacPherson stations on Wednesday, said in a Facebook post that apart from enhancing resilience of the train network, DTL “will bring the MRT within walking distance of many households”.

He added that for DTL3, as with other new lines and stations, they tried to upgrade designs and take advantage of new technology and innovations.

Some features that he cited include the design of ventilation shafts and cooling towers, which are necessary for underground lines.

“Old train lines came with basic no-frills standalone facilities, which could be quite an eyesore. With DTL3, at Bencoolen station, we integrated the ventilation shafts and cooling tower into the design of new buildings and made them ‘invisible’,” Mr Khaw said. 

“By doing so, we made the environment more pleasant and also made better use of land.”

DTL1, with six stations from Chinatown to Bugis, opened on Dec 22, 2013, and DTL2, with 12 stations from Bukit Panjang to Rochor, opened on Dec 27, 2015.

MacPherson station on DTL3 will be linked to the Circle Line. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY