SINGAPORE: Land Transport Authority held a ceremony at the site of the future Tengah Town station on January 13 to officially launch construction of the Jurong Region Line, which will be Singapore’s seventh metro line.
The 24 km elevated and fully automated route with 24 stations is intended to improve connectivity in western Singapore and support development in the Jurong area. It will put more than 60 000 additional households within a 10 min walk of a station and serving destinations including Jurong Industrial Estate, Jurong Innovation District, Nanyang Technological University and the commercial hub being developed in the Jurong Lake District.
Daily ridership is expected to reach 200 000 in the early years and rise to more than 500 000 a day when the areas served are fully developed.
Three phases
The 10-station first phase which is now expected to open in 2027 will run southwest from Choa Chu Kang on the North South Line to Bahar Junction, splitting into two branches to serve Tawas and Boon Lay on the East West Line.
The second phase in 2028 will be a seven-station branch running south from Tengah to Pandan Reservoir via an interchange with the North South and East West lines at Jurong East.
The final phase planned for 2029 will extend the line from Tawas to Peng Kwang Hill and from Boon Lay to Jurong Pier.
LTA said building the line through a ‘mature and densely developed’ corridor will be challenging. The need for tight curves and limited clearances means that the 62 three-car trainsets ordered from Hyundai Rotem will have vehicles slightly narrower and shorter than those used on other lines.
Minimising noise disturbance is a key design consideration, and permanent noise barriers will be installed near residential areas.
All stations will have photovoltaic solar panels to generate renewable energy, and there will be crossflow natural ventilation to reduce the energy consumed by fans and air-conditioning.
