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33-station network to link north-west and east of island to CBD, Marina Bay

The $12 billion Downtown Line (DTL) will be built in three stages and is expected to be ready in 2018. It will have 33 stations - 11 of them linked to the existing MRT network - and will connect the north-west and east of the island to the central business district and Marina Bay.

Most of the stations will be underground to optimise land use and minimise land acquisition. When completed, the DTL will add 40 km to the current network’s 109 km of track as well as the upcoming Circle Line’s 37 km.

The Land Transport Authority, which is in charge of building the DTL, says the line will:

Enhance accessibility to the new downtown;

Expand the MRT network into new corridors;

Cut travel time; and

Improve connectivity on the existing network.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim said yesterday in a speech at an LTA work-plan seminar that LTA will significantly increase the density of the current rail network, given its ability to carry large numbers of people quickly and reliably.

Singapore’s limited land means transport planning is critical, he said. Lack of land also means trade-offs. But the government always strives to do ‘the right thing rather than the popular thing’.

‘If we succumb to political pressure and intervene to override the Public Transport Council when it approves, for example, a bus fare increase, then we will not be serving the long-term interest of the general public,’ Mr Lim said.

The first stage of the DTL is 4.3 km long with six stations running from Bugis to Chinatown via Bayfront - the station that will serve the Marina Bay Sands resort and the new Marina Bay Financial Centre. The target date for completion of this stage is 2013.

The second stage is 16.6 km long and will serve the Bukit Timah corridor. Its 12 stations stretch from the Bugis station on the East-West Line to Bukit Panjang LRT. This stage comprises the previously announced Bukit Timah Line. The locations of the other stations will only be determined next year. Completion for this stage is targeted for 2015.

The final stage of the DTL comprises the northern half of the previously announced Eastern Region Line and runs for 19.1 km from the North-east Line’s Chinatown station to the East-West Line’s Expo station. As with the second stage, its exact alignment and the location of stations will be determined in 2010.

For an idea of how travel time can be improved, LTA said yesterday that the current 60-minute trip from Bukit Panjang to the city will be slashed by a third. It hopes this will encourage motorists to switch to public transport.

LTA wants to bring the public in on the future of public transport, so it has launched a series of focus group discussions to get suggestions and feedback.

It has also launched ‘The Great Transport Challenge 2020 - if I were the Transport Minister’ - a game in which players get a chance to be transport minister for at least a day.

Players will have to tackle issues such as the impact of more roads on the environment and the amount of resources that should be allocated to promote public transport.

Public transport now accounts for 63 per cent of all morning peak-hour trips. The government has said that it aims to raise this to at least 70 per cent by 2020 - and the DTL is the next phase of development in the overall plan.

LTA said yesterday that tenders for two civil contracts have closed and construction is likely to start later this year or early next.

Source : Business Times - 28 Apr 2007