SINGAPORE — A new station will be added to the Thomson-East Coast MRT line (TEL) between Tanjong Rhu and Gardens by the Bay, catering to visitors of the future Founders’ Memorial.

The Founders’ Memorial station, which is a working name, will open in tandem with the memorial, which could open by 2025 in time for Singapore’s 60th year of independence.

The station will also serve upcoming residential and recreational developments in the area, said the Land Transport Authority on Monday (Jan 7). Bay East Garden sits beside the Marina Bay Golf Course, whose lease expires in July 2024.

The LTA said works will begin this year to convert a TEL facility building currently being built at Bay East Garden into an MRT station.

The contract to construct the facility building was awarded to China Railway First Group in June 2016 for around S$242.4 million.

The LTA’s announcement tied in with Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary’s visit to the TEL’s Katong Park station on Monday morning.

TUNNEL STACKING AT KATONG PARK STATION

Katong Park station — located at the junction of Fort Road, Tanjong Rhu Road and Meyer Road — will be similar to Promenade and Stevens stations on the Downtown Line where trains travelling in opposite directions will be located on different levels.

There are currently five stations with stacked platforms, including Raffles Place, City Hall and Bayfront MRT interchanges.

The stacking of tunnels is due to space constraints and will reduce the overall footprint of the station and avoid encroaching on adjoining private land, the LTA said.

The station, which is about 40 per cent complete, is surrounded by residential properties.

LTA engineers had their work cut out for them to overcome challenges in its construction.

The launch shaft for the deployment of the tunnel boring machine was constructed at an empty plot near the Singapore Swimming Club, a distance away from the construction site.

Selected stretches of the ground had to be strengthened, because the area is primarily made up of soft marine clay, which has the consistency of peanut butter.

Although the station is 28m underground, the diaphragm walls — which ensure the foundation is stable — extend 65m below the ground.

THOMSON-EAST COAST LINE PROGRESS

The first stage of the TEL will open later this year.

Once all five stages are up and running by 2024, Singapore’s sixth rail line will link up to all five existing MRT lines through seven interchange stations.

The 43km line is expected to serve an estimated 500,000 commuters daily in the initial years, said the LTA, with the figures “rising to about one million in the longer term”.

• TEL Stage 1

Estimated opening: 2019

Progress: 90 per cent complete

Stations:  Woodlands North, Woodlands and Woodlands South

• TEL Stage 2

Estimated opening: 2020

Progress: 80 per cent complete

Stations:  Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson and Caldecott

• TEL Stage 3

Estimated opening: 2021

Progress: 70 per cent complete

Stations: Mount Pleasant, Stevens, Napier, Orchard Boulevard, Orchard, Great World, Havelock, Outram Park, Maxwell, Shenton Way, Marina Bay, Marina South and Gardens by the Bay

• TEL Stage 4

Estimated opening: 2023

Progress: 40 per cent complete

Stations:  Founders’ Memorial (opening in tandem with the memorial), Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap and Bayshore

• TEL Stage 5

Estimated opening: 2024

Progress: 25 per cent complete

Stations: Bedok South and Sungei Bedok