First phase of Cross Island Line to be completed by 2029; authorities to make partial acquisition of eight properties

SINGAPORE — Construction of the first phase of the new Cross Island Line (CRL), which will have 12 MRT stations starting from the Aviation Park in Changi to Bright Hill in Bishan, is expected to begin next year and be completed by 2029.

The 29km-long line will benefit more than 100,000 households and cut travelling time by 50 to 70 minutes, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Friday (Jan 25) during a visit to the site of the future Bright Hill station.

The stations on the first phase of the CRL will be located at: Bright Hill, Teck Ghee, Ang Mo Kio, Tavistock, Serangoon North, Hougang, Defu, Tampines North, Pasir Ris, Pasir Ris East, Loyang and the Aviation Park.

ACQUIRING LAND

For the first phase of the CRL, the authorities will make partial acquisitions of eight properties.

However, these acquisitions will affect only ancillary features such as footpaths and so there will be no major impact to residents and landowners.

No buildings or operations will be affected, no structures will be demolished and no relocation will be required, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said.

Landowners can continue using those ancillary features until Jan 31, 2020, and will be given compensation based on the market value of the acquired land or space.

These properties are:

• Loyang Valley Condominium at Loyang Avenue

• Electrical sub-station at Loyang Avenue

• Hitachi Chemical Pte Ltd at Loyang Way

• Loyang Industrial Park at Loyang Lane

• Daikin Airconditioning (Singapore) Pte Ltd at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2

• Gain City Best-Electric Pte Ltd at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2

• Ang Mo Kio Hub at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

• Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery at Bright Hill Road

WHAT THEY SAY

Venerable Sik Kwang Sheng, the Abbot of the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, noted that the temple has been in its current location for close to a hundred years, and sees about a thousand visitors on a regular day.

On special occasions such as Vesak Day and Qing Ming, this number goes up to 60,000.

He said the new MRT station at Bright Hill will offer a more convenient option for these devotees and visitors who wish to understand more about Buddhism and the monastery.

“We are grateful and fortunate to be considered part of the blueprint to improve public infrastructure and will work closely with the authorities for the overall interest of the nation and its people,” he told TODAY.

Ms Foo Sau Yoong, 64, a Bedok resident who visits Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery two to three times a year, said that having a train station near the temple would certainly make it more convenient for her.

“I won’t need to change (transportation) so much,” she said in Mandarin.

She has to take the East-West Line from Bedok to City Hall, then switch to the North-South Line to get to Bishan — and then take a bus from there to the temple.

She added: “The construction (noise) may affect those who are reciting scriptures though.”

Meanwhile at Loyang Valley Condominium, resident Maria Sin, a 72-year-old retiree who has been living in the estate for 32 years, noted that there may be more dust and noise once construction work begins.

However, she is not too unhappy about the news.

“There are plusses and minuses. Having a train station nearby would make it more convenient for residents to travel. As for the noise and dust from the construction works, those are short-term sacrifices we have to bear.”

She added that she hopes the authorities will create a temporary bus stop, should they decide to remove the bus stop currently located outside the condominium.

BUILDING THE LINE

To support the CRL, Mr Khaw said that a new 57-hectare depot at Changi East will be built to provide stabling and maintenance facilities for up to 80 trains.

The CRL will be constructed in three phases.

According to the 2013 Transport Master Plan, the fully completed CRL, which was targeted to be ready around 2030, will span about 50km in length.

Eventually, Mr Khaw said, the CRL will connect the western, northeastern and eastern areas of Singapore and could also be connected to Changi Airport.

Authorities said they are still studying that option, and conducting studies on the alignments for phases two and three of the line.

The CRL will have only one signalling system, Mr Khaw said, to keep things simple.

He cited a Financial Times article on the British Crossrail Project, billed as Europe’s largest transport project, whose construction was stalled as it required the project managers to integrate five different signalling systems across three different lines.

This has also happened here, Mr Khaw noted, when the Republic had to manage the re-signalling of the North-South and East-West Lines.