11 new MRT stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) will open on 13 Nov 2022 as part of the third-phase opening of the new line.
Stretching from Stevens to Gardens by the Bay, the 11 new stations will provide better accessibility to commuters who live or work near them.
With the opening, Outram Park and Marina Bay stations will also have their status elevated to ‘tri-line interchanges’, each having access to three MRT lines.
Commuters will be able to preview the stations for free on 11 Nov while participating in activities to celebrate the upcoming opening.
On 13 Nov, 11 new stations along the TEL will begin operations.
Here are the 11 stations and points of interest near each of them:
The new stations span 13.2km with four of them being interchange stations.
Two stations – Outram Park and Marina Bay – will be home to three MRT lines each. Here are the lines that will take you to each location:
The other two, Stevens and Orchard stations, will connect to the Downtown and North-South lines respectively, in addition to TEL.
On 11 Nov – two days before the official launch – commuters can travel for free along the TEL3 stations and familiarise themselves with the new stops. This will take place from 10am to 9pm.
Additionally, commuters can look forward to a lineup of activities to mark the stations’ opening. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will provide more information on the activities soon via their social media pages.
Speaking at a doorstop interview on Friday (7 Oct), Transport Minister S Iswaran said the TEL3 stations will improve convenience for commuters in Singapore.
With their opening, 80,000 more commuters will be within a 10-minute walk from a TEL station.
In addition to better accessibility, residents living near these stations can also look forward to shorter journeys.
Illustrating this, Mr Iswaran said that it will take just 35 minutes to get from Woodlands South to Orchard, down from 50 minutes presently.
However, he explained that the project had taken quite some time to complete as the new line cuts through some “very built-up areas” which presented a significant engineering challenge.
Mr Iswaran acknowledged the cooperation of residents and businesses in the adjoining areas, who have had to put up with inconveniences of varying natures due to construction works.
The Transport Minister, however, did not announce when Mount Pleasent and Marina South stations will open for use. He merely said that their opening will “take reference” from the surrounding developments.
LTA had previously announced that both stations will open when housing developments around them are ready.
With the imminent opening, there remain just two more phases of stations – stretching from Founders’ Memorial to Sungei Bedok – that have yet to begin operations.
Like other stations across Singapore, the new TEL3 stations feature designs that represent features in the surrounding areas.
At Shenton Way, a wall mural of a S$2 note from the iconic Boat Series likely pays homage to the financial institutions nearby.
Image courtesy of Land Transport Authority
Over at Napier, illustrations of flora and fauna resembling entries in an encyclopedia are an apt design given the station’s proximity to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Photo courtesy of Land Transport Authority
The most picturesque of the 11 stations will no doubt be Gardens by the Bay, which features a halo-shaped opening that reveals a regal ceiling adorned with golden lights.
Source: Land Transport Authority on Facebook
With green plants lining both sides of the stairs, the architectural design is a reminder of Mother Nature’s grandeur and how the nearby attractions serve to amplify that.
Signages at the TEL stations also follow a dark-yellow and black theme which may remind commuters of similar signs at the JFK Airport in New York.
If these photos have gotten you excited, mark your calendars for 11 or 13 Nov to catch an early glimpse of the MRT stations yourselves.
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Featured image by MS News and courtesy of Land Transport Authority.
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