Last month, Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung announced that the opening of the Punggol Coast MRT Station, an extension to the North-East Line (NEL), would be delayed by a year because of the pandemic.

The station, which will serve the upcoming Punggol Digital District, will open in 2024 instead of 2023.

In March, the Government also announced that an extension to the Cross Island Line (CRL) will link the existing Punggol MRT Station on the NEL to Pasir Ris MRT Station.

A new station along this CRL extension will be built where the existing Riviera Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Station is. 

To improve connectivity and convenience for commuters at the Punggol Digital District and the new Singapore Institute of Technology campus, it may be more sensible to have the CRL end at the new Punggol Coast MRT Station, instead of Punggol MRT Station, to facilitate the changing of lines.

I am a resident of Punggol. 

Residents who live near Punggol MRT Station may already use the LRT to travel to Riviera LRT Station. The present plan to extend the CRL to Punggol thus duplicates the LRT’s services.

Instead, having the CRL extension terminate at Punggol Coast will benefit residents, students and workers near the Digital District who are going direct to Pasir Ris. 

As the new Punggol Coast NEL Station is only 40 per cent complete, it is not too late to adopt my proposal.

The Land Transport Authority may wish to consider this suggestion.

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