Seamless links to MRT stations and amenities, plus more high-speed Internet access outdoors

RESIDENTS in Aljunied GRC can look forward to a seamless network of park and estate connectors next year linking them to MRT stations and amenities across the constituency.

The One Link@Aljunied will improve accessibility to three new MRT stations on the eastern Downtown Line – Kaki Bukit, Bedok Town Park and Bedok Reservoir – which will be open by 2017.

The $3 million One Link project, expected to be completed in the last quarter of next year, will also offer residents easy access to malls and community spaces.

Part of the connectors will incorporate a cycling track, the Aljunied Town Council disclosed yesterday at a media preview of its next five-year plan for the GRC.

Connections of another sort are also on the cards: Internet-savvy residents used to high-speed surfing at home will be able to enjoy doing so outdoors too.

The six community clubs in the constituency, as well as some fast-food outlets, restaurants and sports facilities, have already been fitted to become wireless ‘hot spots’. But the GRC is looking to add markets and hawker centres to the list.

The masterplan will be unveiled to residents today at an exhibition at the open space next to the Hougang MRT station.

Aljunied Town Council chairman Cynthia Phua said that the masterplan’s completion will provide residents with an environment that is aesthetically pleasing and tranquil, and ideally suited for families and seniors.

Residents – young and old – in the GRC’s five wards will all have something to look forward to.

To encourage senior citizens to lead active lifestyles, more elderly fitness corners will be set up at void decks – one to serve residents in every 10 blocks.

Individual Physical Proficiency Test training stations will also be built at six locations by the end of the year for national servicemen to maintain fitness levels.

For families with young children, there will be more playgrounds, childcare and infant care centres and kindergartens.

The town council has also taken big strides to go green by using energy-saving LED lights at 167 residential blocks and 23 multi-storey carparks. Another 200 blocks will be fitted with LED lights by next year.

Under a pilot project, solar panels will be installed this year at five blocks in Hougang Street 31 and Hougang Avenue 3.

Private estates in the GRC have not been forgotten. New facilities will be added to Charlton Park along with upgrading of drains and walkways.

Improvements are also planned for Kovan, Tai Peng, Chartwell, Hwan Garden, Hillside Rosyth as well as Serangoon estates and the Eunos neighbourhood.

But infrastructure upgrading is not all that the masterplan promises.

Said Madam Phua: ‘This is an infrastructure masterplan, but what we will (do) over the next five years is look into the social well-being of residents too.’

Hougang resident Lee See Watt, 65, a retiree, will go to the exhibition but knows what he wants to see more of: chairs and tables at void decks so older folk like him have a place to rest.

Although the changes are exciting, Kovan resident Niharika Vyas, 33, a teacher, is content even if things stay the way they are in her estate. ‘It’s a nice environment and very close to the amenities. I got to know a few of my neighbours too. It’s nice here.’

Source: Straits Times, 8 Jan 2011

Major projects will boost residential and office space in the area

THE dodgy bars and seedy karaoke pubs of Tanjong Pagar will soon be giving way to high-rise condominiums, glitzy hotels and plush offices amid a radical makeover for the area.

The multibillion-dollar revamp is being driven by the Government’s strategy to promote new office, residential and other developments in the area.

There are also aims to make Tanjong Pagar the next waterfront ‘city’ and a potential rival to the iconic Marina Bay.

One eye-catching development underlines the scope and ambition of the area’s revitalisation.

The mammoth GuocoLand development on the 1.5ha plot at the corner of Peck Seah Street and Choon Guan Street promises to be a landmark project and, at 280m high, among the three tallest buildings in Singapore.

The developer, which paid $1.7 billion for the site, plans to build the mixed-use project on top of Tanjong Pagar MRT station and spend up to $3 billion, according to earlier reports.

GuocoLand also indicated earlier that the development could consist of two towers with a hotel and office, residential and retail space.

Company secretary Dawn Lum said: ‘The project will also be the first to incorporate a ‘City Room’ fronting a park. The City Room is a requirement by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to bring life to the area by creating inviting spaces for public use.’

Mr Colin Tan, head of research and consultancy at Suntec Chesterton International, predicts the development will play an ‘earth-shaking’ part in defining the future character of the area.

‘If the property has more office space, we might see more office spaces coming up. If there are more residential units, then the residential status of the area might be reinforced,’ he said.

A slew of other developments are also on the cards. Earlier this month, the URA opened tenders for a 0.23ha hotel site at the corner of Gopeng Street and Peck Seah Street. The 99-year leasehold site has a maximum gross floor area of 1,804 sq ft, and can be built up to 30 storeys. The site is opposite two other hotel plots sold by the URA in 2007.

More residential units are on the way as well. Keppel Tower and GE Tower will be turned into a high-rise condominium with shops and restaurants on the first floor.

The project is a result of a rare land-swop deal between real estate investment trust K-Reit Asia and Keppel Land.

Keppel plans to build two towers consisting of 620 apartments in total.

Heritage sites like the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station will be in on the action too.

The station will move to a new home in Woodlands as part of a historic land-swop deal with Malaysia, but the existing building will be conserved as the centrepiece of a new development.

Earlier this year, the Economic Strategies Committee highlighted Tanjong Pagar as the next waterfront ‘city’, pointing out that the neighbourhood’s prime location at the fringe of the city, size and potential to support future growth have given it sufficient clout to rival Marina Bay.

Ms Agnes Tay, commercial director of Savills Singapore, sees high potential for office rentals in the area.

‘The average Grade A rental rate in Tanjong Pagar is $6.50 per sq ft, up some 40 per cent from the peak in the second quarter of 2008,’ she said.

But some analysts say those keen to enjoy the area’s full potential will have to wait another 10 to 20 years.

Mr Ong Teck Hui, head of research at Credo Real Estate, said: ‘The waterfront city idea is a long-term plan…The authorities can’t push out so many sites at one time. The market won’t be able to absorb it, and the demand may not be there.’

Mr Tan observed that the redevelopment of the area might prompt the sale of some commercial offices in the area.

‘That possibility depends on whether the owners come together for collective sales,’ he said.

Source: Straits Times, 27 Nov 2010

DEVELOPERS eyeing prime Marina Bay land might have to wait until at least 2013 before getting a chance to lodge a bid.

That is when the Government is expected to start releasing 11 parcels of land in step with the completion of infrastructure works in the area. These projects include the Downtown rail line and the Marina Coastal expressway, which will be completed in phases in the next few years, said the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday.

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) urban planning and design director Andrew Fassam said about 1.75 million sq m of gross floor area could stem from these parcels, about four times the area of nearby Marina Bay Financial Centre. The 11 sites may be released individually in future land sales programmes or combined with neighbouring plots.

However, the four mixed-use land parcels to be jointly developed by Malaysia and Singapore as part of the railway land swop deal are expected to be vested for development next year. The four land parcels have a gross floor area of 341,000 sq m, part of which will be for office use. These sites and two other land swop deal plots can yield a combined gross floor area of 500,000 sq m.

URA group director of land sales and administration Marc Boey said smaller sites have been released to address concerns that there might be a shortage of office space in 2014 once most ongoing developments are completed. These sites, such as one announced yesterday in Cecil Street and one on the corner of Peck Seah and Choon Guan streets, can be completed in about three years, he said.

Apart from the government land sales programme, an additional supply of about 39,000 sq m of gross floor area of commercial space can be expected to be released by various government agencies in the first half of next year, the MND said.

Source: Straits Times, 26 Nov 2010

URA wants to pace out development of the area with M+S factor looming
(SINGAPORE) The supply of commercial space on the confirmed list of the first-half 2011 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme is being halved from H2 2010. And the government did not include a site for office development in the Marina Bay area in the H1 2011 list that some developers and consultants had asked for.

The earliest that land will be offered through the GLS Programme in Marina Bay, where offices are being highly sought after by banks, will be around 2013, when infrastructure works in the vicinity begin to be completed.

However, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) group director (land sales and administration group) Marc Boey highlighted that in the meantime, about 341,000 square metres of gross floor area (GFA), part of which will be for office use, will be generated from the four plots in the location that will be jointly developed by the Khazanah-Temasek partnership, M+S Pte Ltd. The plots are slated to be vested in M+S next year.

Another two parcels in the Ophir/Rochor area to be vested in M+S will produce a further GFA of about 160,000 sq m.

Hence there is a need to space out the future release of sites and pace of development in Marina Bay as in the past, URA officials stressed.

Explaining the drop in commercial land supply in H1 2011, Mr Boey said that ‘for 2010 itself, we have already injected quite a large supply of office developments’ – including the Jurong Gateway, Buona Vista and Tanjong Pagar sites.

Following that, the Ministry of National Development (MND) is offering two relatively small commercial plots on the H1 2011 confirmed list – at Cecil Street (a plot beside Capital Tower currently used as a park) and next to Paya Lebar MRT Station – that will have minimum office components. The H1 2011 confirmed list can generate a total commercial GFA of 98,120 sq m – about half the 184,240 sq m supply in the current half’s confirmed list.

In addition, MND will introduce a new commercial plot on the reserve list, also near Paya Lebar MRT Station, that will have minimum office and hotel components. That along with other reserve list plots for H1 2011 can produce about 219,740 sq m commercial space, close to the 215,590 sq m from the H2 2010 reserve list.

URA officials yesterday also highlighted the government’s strategy of releasing land for office development in a diverse range of locations including Tanjong Pagar in the old CBD, Buona Vista, and the regional commercial hubs earmarked around Paya Lebar and Jurong East MRT stations to create a range of options for occupiers with different budgets.

It will only be from 2013 onwards that MND will start releasing land in Marina Bay through the GLS Programme as infrastructure works in the area begin to be completed – such as construction of the Downtown Line, extension of the North-South Line and the Common Services Tunnel network.

URA officials highlighted 11 plots near Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) and Asia Square that will be made available for development in phases from 2013 onwards.

‘The actual schedule for release of the land parcels will be dependent on market conditions and demand at that point in time,’ said URA’s director (urban planning) Andrew Fassam.

The plots may be tendered out individually or amalgamated with adjacent sites to allow for development of a mixed-use complex. The 11 plots, zoned white, can generate a total GFA of about 1.75 million sq m – equivalent to four MBFCs.

URA also spotlighted the substantial office supply in the pipeline, of about 887,000 sq m (GFA), or about 9.5 million sq ft – of which 8.2 million sq ft will be completed from Q4 2010 to 2013 and is mostly in the prime CBD including Marina Bay.

While some market watchers worry about a shortage of offices from 2014, URA officials suggest that supply from the Cecil Street and Paya Lebar plots to be sold in H1 2011 as well as the plots at Jurong East, Buona Vista and Tanjong Pagar awarded this year could potentially translate into some new office completions from 2014 onwards. And the South Beach project, which includes offices, is expected to be completed in 2015.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s head of markets Chris Archibold reckons GuocoLand’s Tanjong Pagar project will likely be completed around 2015, and the Marina Bay plots that will be developed by M+S Pte Ltd could start to be completed around 2015 or 2016. ‘So that leaves maybe a year’s gap, in 2014,’ he added.

He agreed with MND’s strategy to supply office space in older CBD locations such as Tanjong Pagar and Cecil Street as it will appeal to cost-conscious tenants as well as banks for their backoffice functions. ‘But if they offer another site in Marina Bay now, it will be taken up. There’s a lot of confidence. If you speak to corporate real estate guys from major MNCs and especially banks, they’re all looking at expansion again.’

‘Maybe they should keep under review the topic of when to release the next plot at Marina Bay according to market needs, instead of saying it will be from 2013 onwards,’ he suggested.

Another observer said: ‘I think they probably want to clear the path for M+S, and give them some breathing room to get organised, get some tenants, before releasing more sites in Marina Bay.’

Source: Business Times, 26 Nov 2010

THE tender to operate the 42km MRT Downtown Line is now open – the first designed to prevent public transport companies from slipping into complacency as far as customer service is concerned.

For starters, the Downtown Line contract is for only 15 years, down from the 30 to 40 years given to operators of earlier lines.

The operators of the Downtown Line will also have to lease operating assets such as trains from the Government. Under the old system, rail operators were given the initial set of operating assets, but had to foot the bill for replacement sets.

And unlike some previous tenders which were open to all interested parties, the new tender is open only to incumbent transport operators SMRT Corp and SBS Transit.

Tenders for future lines – such as the Thomson and Eastern Region lines – might be open to players other than the incumbents, including those from abroad. When the lease for the Downtown Line expires in 2032, another tender for an operator may be called.

Changes to the business model were mentioned in August, when Second Transport Minister Lim Hwee Hua told Parliament a higher level of contestability was still possible with just two players.

‘The issue here is really not about the number of potential players in the industry,’ she had said then.

‘Rather, the intent is to increase the level of competitive pressure in the industry by issuing shorter licence periods and ensure that the incumbent operator will have to face the prospect of competition at the end of their licence term.

‘The shorter licence period would also allow the Land Transport Authority, as the regulator, to reset and refresh licence conditions as appropriate.’

Both SBS Transit and SMRT confirmed yesterday that they had been invited to bid for the operation of the Downtown Line.

The multibillion-dollar Downtown Line – which links the Bukit Timah and eastern corridors to the Marina area – will be the third-longest MRT line since rail operations started more than 20 years ago. The North-South and East-West lines are 44km and 49km long respectively. Both are run by SMRT.

The driverless and fully underground Downtown Line will open in three stages from 2013 to 2017.

When fully opened, ridership on the three-carriage system – versus six-carriage for the older lines – is expected to average 500,000 a day. That is one-quarter of total MRT ridership today.

Industry observers expect SBS Transit to clinch the contract as it has the longest experience with driverless lines, having operated the North-East line since 2003.

Analysts are, however, not entirely bullish about whichever company ends up running the new line.

Mr John Rachmat, transport analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Asia Securities, said that under the revised terms, ‘profitability is unlikely to be as good as before’.

‘No doubt the line will contribute to revenue – the question is how much,’ he said.

He added that there would be ‘compensating factors’, such as how the operator would no longer have to set aside funds for asset replacement, ‘but we need to know all the details when the concession is granted before we can say definitively how it will affect the operator’.

The tender closes at the end of this year and is expected to be awarded by the middle of next year.

Source: Straits Times, 21 Oct 2010

THE future use of the land parcel at Tanjong Pagar railway station as well as the other five plots involved in the historical land swop with Malaysia are to be reviewed under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Concept Plan next year.

The National Development Ministry has announced that the future use of the plots ‘will be reviewed under the URA Concept Plan and Master Plan exercises, and the land parcels will be put to optimal use’.

Next year, URA is due to review its Concept Plan, which maps out Singapore’s land use strategies over the next 40 to 50 years and is re-examined every 10 years.

And its Master Plan, which is reviewed every five years and translates the long-term strategies of the Concept Plan into detailed plans over the next 10 to 15 years, is scheduled for reappraisal in 2013.

The land swop deal inked on Monday resulted in Singapore and Malaysia agreeing to swop six parcels in Marina South and the Ophir-Rochor area for six Malayan railway (KTM) sites in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, Woodlands and Bukit Timah.

Although the developments likely on these sites are uncertain at this stage, a recent Nomura Singapore report suggests that the deal is likely to benefit United Overseas Land (UOL) and Keppel Land as both companies have assets in the areas involved.

It cites Keppel Land as an obvious beneficiary of the development of the Marina South parcels because of its stakes in the upcoming Marina Bay Financial Centre and the Ocean Financial Centre in the Marina Bay area.

But UOL is tipped by Nomura as being the top beneficiary, given that it offers comprehensive exposure to the Rochor and Tanjong Pagar make-over – its new Spottiswoode Park residential project is just behind the Tanjong Pagar railway station.

UOL, which is currently readying its showflat, expects to launch the project by the end of the year.

Although URA’s plans for Tanjong Pagar will not be announced before the launch of UOL’s project, Nomura expects the potential of the railway station’s redevelopment to be reflected in both prices and buyer expectations.

According to the 2008 master plan, a portion of the Tanjong Pagar railway station land parcel is zoned for commercial use with a plot ratio of 4.2, while a large chunk of it is zoned for residential use with a plot ratio of 2.8.

The rejuvenation of the Rochor district, notes Nomura, bodes well for two assets there that UOL has indirect stakes in: The Plaza and The Gateway.

And the development of the Ophir-Rochor land parcels and URA’s plans are likely to help rejuvenate Rochor and Tanjong Pagar respectively.

‘We believe assets in these areas could see more potential upside versus those in the Marina Bay area, as the latter is already regarded as the new Downtown (with the completion of the Marina Bay Sands and the upcoming MBFC development) and asset values have appreciated accordingly,’ Nomura said.

Source: Straits Times, 24 Sep 2010

Hundreds of new flats, seamless link for MRT and bus interchange

BEDOK Town Centre will receive a complete facelift in the next four years, with the building of a new integrated public transport hub and private homes.

These new developments will stand on a plot that will also have space for commercial use totalling 35,000 sq m, which is about the size of Junction 8 shopping centre in Bishan.

But the most dramatic change for residents will probably be the seamless linking of Bedok bus interchange to the MRT station and the building of an estimated 475 private apartments beside the interchange.

Residents interviewed welcomed the news that the bus interchange will be air-conditioned while property analysts foresee the apartments being snapped up by young couples and home upgraders.

Housewife Maria Ahmad, who lives in Bedok North, is delighted as the changes will give her more places to shop. ‘I’ve been waiting for Bedok Point to open and now there’s this new development too,’ said the 40-year-old.

Bedok Point, a mall which will open next month, stands close to the new project, which will take up a 2.49ha plot now occupied by a bus interchange.

Senior Minister S. Jayakumar, an MP for East Coast GRC, is convinced that the proximity of the projects will give residents ‘a rejuvenated and more vibrant town centre’.

Together, ‘it will really be a total makeover’, he told The Straits Times.

Minister of State for Manpower and Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan, who is MP for East Coast GRC’s Kampong Chai Chee ward, which includes the town centre, added: ‘The new project will inject a lot of life, dynamism and excitement into the lives of people living in East Coast.’

The promise of commercial and residential developments attracted nine bids yesterday when the sale tender closed, said the Housing Board.

The top bid was about $790 million, made jointly by two subsidiaries of property giant CapitaLand.

The successful bidder will be made known in two weeks’ time, said the HDB spokesman yesterday.

Bedok is one of Singapore’s largest HDB estates, with close to 200,000 residents. It is among the early HDB new towns and saw its first high-rises in the 1970s.

Professor Jayakumar recalled that when he became MP for Bedok constituency in 1980, it had very basic facilities: a bus interchange and no community centre.

‘Now, the whole place has transformed,’ he said. Bedok is now part of East Coast GRC, and the constituency has several community centres, food centres and wet markets.

More changes are being planned. One idea MPs have floated is to bring under one roof the ageing sports facilities in Bedok, such as the swimming pool, indoor stadium and Adventure Park, said Prof Jayakumar.

The land freed up can be used to build new HDB flats or private condominiums, and that will bring many new and younger families to Bedok Central, he added.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak hopes the private apartments coming up in Bedok town centre will be two- and three-room homes that are about 1,300 sq ft.

‘These would be of a decent size and, as Bedok is a mature estate, the flats will be much in demand from families with three generations that want to live under one roof,’ he said.

He expects the apartments to be priced around $1,100 to $1,150 per sq ft, with some going for as much as $1,200 per sq ft.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

Change in measuring viability means greater connectivity for island
TWO weeks ago, Parliament approved a profound change to the way rail projects are built and financed here.

The amendment allows new MRT lines to be built as long as the entire network remains commercially viable. This is a stark departure from a longstanding principle that each new line had to be independently viable before it could be built.

The change was necessary. As new lines are added to the network, there is a good chance these will span corridors that yield lower commuter traffic than the mature lines. Under the old rules, these may take longer to build – if at all.

With the change, there is a better prospect of a new line being built to service less populated areas, as long as it enhances the overall connectivity of Singapore. For instance, a line may extend to an area like Seletar. Or you could have one that links two such areas, such as Punggol to Woodlands.

Lest readers get their hopes up, I should add that such lines, while possible, are unlikely to be up in the near future. This is because there is a long pipeline of rail projects scheduled for delivery first.

Over the next 10 years or so, there will be one new MRT line completed almost every year. Just to recap, the planned schedule is as follows:

2011 – Circle Line Stages 4 and 5

2012 – Circle Line Marina Bay Extension

2013 – Downtown Line Stage 1

2014 – North-South Line Marina Bay Extension

2015 – East-West Line Tuas Extension; and Downtown Line Stage 2

2017 – Downtown Line Stage 3

2018 – Thomson Line

2020 – Eastern Region Line

Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Lim Wee Kiak noted of the schedule: ‘This should be the fastest rate that Singapore has seen so far… We can’t be compared to giants like China and India, who have the manpower, resources and land to execute huge infrastructure projects at a faster pace.’

Given finite resources, delivering lines at a faster rate would be taxing, chaotic and potentially unsafe. The timeline thus finely balances budgetry considerations with engineering constraints. On a per capita basis, Singapore’s rail investment – a whopping $60 billion over the next 10 years – is indeed unrivalled.

But some readers may recall that previous plans had called for earlier deliveries.

Back in the mid-1990s, then Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan suggested that the Land Transport Authority deliver an average of one rail project a year. His successor Yeo Cheow Tong raised the long-term target for Singapore’s rail coverage – from 160km of lines to 540km – by 2030.

Had Singapore proceeded as planned, the first two stages of the Downtown Line may be near completion today. And the cost of construction might have been substantially lower.

Unfortunately, a few crises derailed plans: the Asian financial crisis in 1998, the dot.com bubble burst of 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and the Sars outbreak in 2003.

There was also the collapse of the Circle Line’s Nicoll Highway station site in 2004, which delayed the rail programme.

But now, it looks like plans are getting back on track, following an aggressive development schedule announced by Transport Minister Raymond Lim in 2008.

By 2020, Singapore’s rail network will double in length to 280km. Rail density will rise from 31km per million residents, to 51km per million – comparable to current standards in New York and London, where commuters in town need walk only five minutes to a station.

Building costs have gone up, but the commitment to invest in transport infrastructure remains unwavering. This is crucial, as daily trips by public transport are expected to exceed 10 million by 2020 – up from under six million today.

But what about beyond 2020? Will the rail network expand to 540km by 2030, as announced by former transport minister Yeo in Parliament in 2000?

The figure does not seem very feasible, as it would mean doubling 2020′s system in 10 years. In any case, there may be no point in constantly adding to a vast network, since investing in infrastructure cannot be the end-all solution to ever rising urban transport demand.

If land use policies and travel patterns do not evolve, even the fastest-growing MRT network will not be enough to transport a fast-growing population. People from newer lines would still need to link to the mature lines which reach the traditional residential and commercial hubs – causing a crunch no systemic upgrade can relieve.

In the long run, Singapore may need to ‘unbundle’ its central business district. Some recommendations made by the Economic Strategies Committee – such as moving the Tanjong Pagar port to Tuas – could show the way.

In the meantime, Singapore also needs to keep an eye on emerging transport trends and technologies. After all, the metropolitan rail system, while efficient, has been around for about 140 years. Something superior could come along.

A Shenzhen company showcased a ‘straddling bus’ concept recently. The enormous bus takes up to 1,200 passengers, straddles a two-lane road, and is raised so that faster-moving vehicles can pass under it.

A few European cities are experimenting with Personal Rapid Transit, a system of pod-like carriages linked to a sophisticated computer program that matches vehicle deployment with commuter load.

The former is said to almost rival the subway and is much cheaper to build, while the latter has been described as ‘taxis on tracks’.

But alternatives have to be studied carefully to see what works here, lest we end up with a lacklustre system like the LRT. With operators today beset by low ridership that no one foresaw or could quite explain, it does not look likely that a new LRT line will be built.

Meanwhile, delivering the slew of new lines from now till 2020 will be a titanic task. For the man in the street, there will be traffic diversions, noise and dust for years on end. These are inevitable with construction projects as massive and long-drawn as MRT projects.

But the payoffs when the lines are ready will surely be worth the trouble.

Source: Straits Times, 2 Sep 2010

Line part of forked Tuas extension from East-West line

THE MRT will be extended to the Second Link by 2015.

The Straits Times understands the line will be part of the East-West Line’s forked Tuas extension – a 14km above-ground stretch on which work could start in the second half of next year, and be completed in 2015.

The branch leading to the Second Link will be completed first, with the other branch leading to the factories in Tuas South to follow, said sources.

Engineering drawings done last year show the line continuing westwards from Joo Koon station towards the Second Link, with four stops along the way.

The plans call for a rail viaduct rising 20m above ground, about twice the height of current elevated MRT tracks. This, an MRT first, will take the track above the Ayer Rajah Expressway/Pan-Island Expressway intersection.

At some point, the rail viaduct will run along a road viaduct – another first.

The Transport Ministry said alignment of the extension has not been finalised, but confirmed that a stop will be sited near the Second Link.

It ruled out extending the East-West line to Johor from the Second Link station.

Plans for a cross-border metro extension, to be ready in 2018, were announced in May by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

But observers say that because plans are for the extension to stop at Tanjung Puteri in Johor Baru, the line across is likely to be launched from the Woodlands station, not the Second Link.

Industry watchers said having an MRT line to the Second Link is crucial, even if it is not extended across the border.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, said the Second Link station offers commuters an alternative if the Causeway checkpoint gets too crowded.

For Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) spokesman Robin Goh, having an MRT station at the Second Link – and as soon as 2015 – may well translate into more Malaysian customers visiting the resort, principally, its casino.

He said a station there will attract more free-and-independent travellers, who now make up about half of the visitors to RWS. As it is, 20 to 30 bus-loads of Malaysians now go there on an average weekday, ‘and a bit more on weekends’, he said.

Sources said the Second Link stop could also be a train depot for future MRT lines that connect to the East-West line’s western tip.

Transport researcher Lee Der Horng of the National University of Singapore said, however, that to maximise the potential of a station at the Second Link, it will be critical to provide connectivity on both sides, ‘so travellers will not end up in the middle of nowhere’.

On this front, a bus terminal for cross-border services could possibly be sited near the Second Link station.

Mr Sebastian Yap, the spokesman for the Executive Bus Agencies Association, said talks on moving the interstate bus terminal in Lavender Street have been going on for years now.

The recent announcement to set up a Downtown Line station in Jalan Besar has given added impetus to move the bus terminal out, given that the urban development around the station will need to be maximised.

But Mr Yap thinks Tuas is not the ideal new location.

Saying the association preferred Boon Lay, he said: ‘A good terminal service is all about connectivity. Besides the MRT, we need taxis as well as public buses.’

Those working in Tuas are thrilled at the prospect of an MRT extension there.

Mr Mike Leong, a 30-year-old Malaysian who works at Daimler’s logistics centre in Tuas and spends four hours each work day travelling between home in Johor’s Gelang Patah and his workplace, is looking forward to a shorter commute.

Packed buses ferrying Malaysians enter Singapore via the Second Link daily and head for the Jurong East MRT station, from where company buses pick them up and drive them westwards again to Tuas. It is a circuitous trip which Mr Leong thinks ‘wastes a lot of time’.

Raffles Country Club vice-president Lek Seow Yam said an MRT extension to Tuas would make it easier for businesses there to fill positions.

He said: ‘It can be difficult to find people who want to work in Tuas because of the distance. An MRT line would also encourage more people to patronise the F&B places there.’

NUS’ Dr Lee suggested that the Tuas extension could include Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

‘If we can provide an airport extension, I see no reason why the MRT cannot be extended to NTU,’ he added.

Source: Straits Times, 27 Aug 2010

MPs give their take on future lines, now that planners are looking beyond just viability

Ideas have emerged on future MRT lines in Singapore, and none is considered far-fetched any more.

Building a second and larger Circle Line, or a northern coastal line through Punggol? What about an MRT line across the sea to Pulau Ubin?

Transport planners can now consider such ideas even if the proposed lines pass through quiet estates and are not viable on their own – so long as the whole MRT network benefits from these new connections.

The Government made clear its change in thinking on future MRT lines last Monday, and MPs gave The Sunday Times their ideas on where the tracks could lead.

The chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Transport, Dr Lim Wee

Kiak, favours a second Circle Line that connects stations in the outer parts of existing lines, say, from Yishun to Sengkang.

Passengers now have to take the North-South Line from Yishun station to Bishan interchange, hop on the Circle Line to Serangoon interchange, then take the North-East Line to Sengkang.

‘The London system is almost like a grid, while ours will be more like a web with circles that radiate from the centre,’ said Dr Lim, an MP for Sembawang GRC.

His deputy chairman, Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, suggests joining stations in Ang Mo Kio (North-South Line), Hougang (North-East Line) and Bedok (East-West Line) with an MRT line.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had itself provided for a larger Circle Line in its 2001 Concept Plan, to link regional centres in Tampines, Woodlands and Jurong East.

A review of the 2001 plan, to be done every 10 years, is scheduled to be completed next year.

Why not also build an MRT line to islands like Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong, suggested Dr Faishal, an MP for Marine Parade GRC.

Suggestions of other new MRT lines have also circulated on the Internet in recent years.

In 2005, for instance, a Raffles Institution student created a map of the MRT network and added

possible future lines based on URA master plans and National Library archives, among other sources.

He envisaged, among others, a North Coast Line from Woodlands to Changi, through Punggol and Pasir Ris stations.

That may not be far off the mark.

The 2001 Concept Plan had almost the same line, except it started from Sembawang instead of Woodlands.

A 2003 Land Transport Authority book, Getting There, also said Punggol station was designated an interchange between the North-East Line and a future line known as the North Shore Line.

A 40m by 40m box was built directly below the station to accommodate a future station on the North Shore Line.

Underpinning the Government’s change in thinking is its assessment that MRT lines built after 2020 will be mainly underground and could take longer to become profitable on their own if they have to pass through less mature estates with low ridership.

But the spin-offs to the whole rail network could be huge, and transport planners are now better able to project such benefits after two decades of operating the MRT.

Transport GPC member Charles Chong, an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said the new policy will benefit new towns, as it takes time to build up a critical mass of passengers.

‘It is a chicken-and-egg situation. People do not move into an area if the infrastructure is not developed,’ he said.

Source: Sunday Times, 23 Aug 2010