We refer to Mr Thomas Tan’s letter, “Why won’t Hume Station open?” (Oct 17), and Mr Albert Tay’s letter, “Opening Hume Station will encourage use of MRT” (Oct 23).

When developing the rail network, the Land Transport Authority works closely with land use agencies to cater for possible future developments.

In this regard, we have made some basic structural provisions for a future station between the Hillview and Beauty World stations on Downtown Line 2.

When there is sufficient development in this area, we will convert these into a station.

Meanwhile, we assure residents in the Hume area that they are well-served by the public transport network.

Bus services 67, 75, 170, 171, 178, 184 and 961 connect residents to transport nodes such as Choa Chu Kang and Clementi MRT stations, as well as Orchard Road and Chinatown directly.

City Direct service 653 was also introduced in January, under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme, to connect residents directly to the Central Business District.

The Hillview and Beauty World stations, which are a short bus ride away, will open in the first quarter of 2016. We thank Mr Tan and Mr Tay for the opportunity to clarify.