Pre-construction - Pasir Ris

Currently a terminal station serving a single line, the Pasir Ris station will be transformed into a transfer point between the East West Line and upcoming Cross Island Line. This station is also where the Cross Island Line splits between the main line towards Tuas and the branch line towards Punggol. Adopting a stacked station configuration, the main line tracks will occupy the upper platform level while the branch line tracks take up the lower platform level.

25 February 2019 - An aerial view of the existing EWL station.

Pre-construction - Pasir Ris East

Pasir Ris East station will be the fourth station along the first phase of the Cross Island Line (CRL). The station will be built under Pasir Ris Drive 1, near the Pasir Ris East Community Club (CC), Pasir Ris Polyclinic and Pasir Ris Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) and stretches through the neighbouring housing estate to end at block 208.

Station footprint showing the outline of the future Pasir Ris East station.
Source: LTA

Pre-construction: Aviation Park

Aviation Park station sits at the junction of the former Aviation Park Road and Changi Coastal Road. Currently an undeveloped piece of land at the airport boundary, the area will be transformed once the CRL becomes operational and following the development of the Changi East industrial zone nearby.

28 September 2019 - Looking ahead towards the location of the future Aviation Park station.

Pre-construction: Changi East depot

The main depot for the Cross Island Line (CRL) will be located at Changi East, bounded by Aviation Park and Tanah Merah Coast roads. Currently the land sits as an undeveloped, vegetated portion of reclaimed land along the coast. Come 2021 however, works will begin to transform the land into an operational depot supporting the operations of the CRL.

28 September 2019 - A view along Tanah Merah Coast Road of the future depot to be located on the right.

Next station - Turf City

Last week the Land Transport Authority (LTA) released the Phase 2 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the route of the Cross Island Line (CRL) through the central catchment nature reserve (CCNR). The report detailed the construction methods and locations of the construction sites for two alignment options through and around the nature reserve.

Part of the report includes graphical representation of the route alignment options. Directions on either end of the alignment diagrams show the approximate locations of the stations. In the eastward direction "To Sin Ming" is shown, where Bright Hill station is located. Towards the west, "To Turf City" is used. This should correlate to a station being built in the vicinity of the former Turf Club in Bukit Timah.

Alignment option 1 through the CCNR.
Source: LTA EIA

Alignment option 2 around the CCNR.
Source: LTA EIA

Contract tendering process begins

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has recently released tenders for 2 contracts as part of the Cross Island Line (CRL) civil works, beginning the process for release of all 17 expected civil works contracts. Contract CR101 for the Design and Construction of Changi East depot was released on 16 August 2019, followed by contract CR105 for the Design and Construction of a large single bore tunnel from Aviation Park station to Loyang station on 23 August 2019.

This marks the first time that LTA has explored the use of a large-diameter tunnel boring machine to create a single bore tunnel between stations. All MRT projects prior have used twin bored tunnels which are essentially separate tubes for each track direction. A single large bore on the other hand will utilise a single tube tunnel with dividing wall to separate the two tracks.

Cross section of CRL single bore tunnel. Visible are the overhead rigid catenary supports, tunnel dividing wall and other
ancillary structures.
Source: Christian Arellano

Soil Investigation: Maju

The second stage of soil investigation works have commenced on phase 2 of the Cross Island Line (CRL). This involves further testing of areas identified during the first stage in order to obtain a more accurate understanding of the soil consistency. Contact C1066 was awarded by the Land Transport Authority on 12 December 2018 to Kwang Sing Engineering Pte Ltd. The company has previously conducted soil investigation work for portions of phase 1 of the CRL. This contract is due for completion by 24 October 2021.

Contract C1066 detail.

One of the first areas where soil investigation works under this contract has been spotted is opposite Maju camp along Clementi Road. Currently, two soil investigation rigs are located in the forested area.

Pre-construction - Bright Hill

Prior to construction beginning on the Cross Island Line (CRL), here are some images of the area before changes begin. The station will be located under the main thoroughfare of Sin Ming Avenue.

25 April 2019

Pre-construction - Ang Mo Kio

We take a look at the area around Ang Mo Kio station prior to the commencement of construction for the Cross Island Line.

24 April 2019

URA Draft Master Plan 2019 - Potential airport extension

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) launched the Draft Master Plan 2019 (DMP 2019) last month, providing a view of developments to come across the country. As part of the DMP 2019, improvements to various regions were planned and listed out on the URA website for public viewing. Among these regions is Changi, where the upcoming Terminal 5 of the airport is being developed. As part of the plans outlined, improved rapid transit network coverage is one of the key areas being looked into.

An excerpt from the URA website detailing plans for the Changi region.
Source: URA

CRL1 : Pre-qualification for contracts

Last week the Land Transport Authority (LTA) released the tender for pre-qualification of civil contracts for phase 1 of the Cross Island Line (CRL1). The pre-qualification is for 15 civil contracts which involve various types of construction - depot construction, tunnel construction, station construction or a combination of any of the three. Contracts run from CR101 to CR117, skipping any numbers with '4' included - standard practice for LTA contract numbering since the Nicoll Highway incident.

We take a look at the expected contract boundaries for the 15 civil works contracts currently under pre-qualification.

Credit: y2koh

URA draft master plan 2019 - CRL1 details shown

This past week, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) unveiled the Draft Master Plan 2019 with updated maps of the country. Included in the updates to the maps are the alignment and station outlines of the Cross Island Line stage 1 (CRL1). These show several unique features of the line.

CR02 - Aviation Park
Source: URA draft master plan 2019

The first station along CRL1 is Aviation Park. Due to its proximity to the Changi East depot, this station becomes a diverging point for the main line and depot reception tracks. As a result, it appears that the station will be designed with 4 tracks serving it, although it is likely that two of these tracks may not be used for revenue operations. Noticeable are the cross overs on both sides of the station - to the west between the main line tracks and the outer tracks and another between both bounds of the main line & to the east again between the main line tracks and outer tracks. Looking at the arrangement of tracks and spacing between, it appears that this station may consist of 2 island platforms. 

Additionally on the eastern side beyond the station, the tracks can be seen turning towards the yet-announced Terminal 5 station. On the western end, one can see the tunnels which undercross the existing Changi Airport which run closer together than at other locations - this is set to be one of the two points that utilise a single large diameter bore for tunnel construction instead of the usual two regular diameter bores for each bound.

Pre-construction - Teck Ghee

As one of the earliest awarded contracts for station construction, it is likely that works at Teck Ghee station will commence earlier than other station sites along the Cross Island Line stage 1 (CRL1). Now a quiet neighbourhood along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, the dual carriageway road will soon make way for heavy construction of both the MRT station and upcoming North South Expressway.

03 September 2018 - A view along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 before construction of contract N109A begins.

CRL1 - What's next?

It has been about a month since the first 12 stations along the first stage of the Cross Island Line have been announced. What comes next as the 10 year journey towards the line's opening commences? We break down some of the things that residents along the route can keep a look out for.

CRL2 - Advanced Engineering studies

Today the Land Transport Authority has released the tenders for the advanced engineering studies for the Cross Island Line (CRL) phase 2. Both package A and package B are for the mainline and do not appear to include the advanced engineering for the CRL's western depot at Raffles Country Club.

Screenshot of tenders for Advanced Engineering studies for CRL2

Both contracts are expected to be delivered by 30 September 2022. This is indicative that the announcement of stations along stage 2 of the line will only be announced after completion of these contracts. We have since checked similar contracts for CRL1 and noted that the stations were announced approximately 11 months prior to the completion of the contracts. With this, it can be expected that the CRL2 stations may be announced around end-2021 or in 2022 itself.

Contract awards - N109A for Teck Ghee station

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced yesterday the award of contract N109A for the construction of a portion of the North South Corridor project which includes the construction of Teck Ghee station.

Boundaries of contract N109A.
Source: LTA

Contract N109A is the first Cross Island Line (CRL)-related contract to be awarded, primarily as the construction of the station facilities has been bundled with the contract for the expressway. The successful bidder for this contract is Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC), who have completed multiple other rail infrastructure projects locally, including Newton, Promenade and Gul Circle stations. From the station outline, it can be expected that there would be approximately 4 to 6 entrances serving the HDB blocks and Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.

CRL1 - Detailed station location maps

During the ministerial visit and announcement at Bright Hill station for Cross Island Line stage 1 (CRL1) this morning, there were no exhibits showing the detailed station location maps for each of the 12 stations along the announced section. Additionally, the Land Transport Authority does not appear to have released such maps either. Instead, we have noted various Members of Parliament have been posting these on their social media platforms. Do have a look at some of the more detailed station location plans we've found and we will continually update on any new maps as we come across them.

Edit @ 1634pm - Defu, Serangoon North & Tavistock station location maps added.

Edit @ 0953am on 26 Jan 19 - Aviation Park, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, Teck Ghee & Bright Hill station location maps added.

Aviation Park station location map.
Source: LTA

CRL1 announced

The Land Transport Authority announced the station locations for Cross Island Line stage 1 (CRL1) this morning at a site visit by Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan to Bright Hill station. This will be the location of stage 1's western terminus.

Do stay tuned as the official press release becomes available later this afternoon.

Speculated station locations

After collating all the sightings of soil investigation works, we can finally compile a list of probable station locations for the Cross Island Line eastern (CRLe) section. Knowing that the line stretches from Changi to Bright Hill, here's our list of the speculated stations.

Speculated alignment of CRLe

Credit: y2koh

Soil Investigation: Serangoon North

The final location of noted soil investigation activities is at Serangoon North. Intense works have been conducted in 2018 along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 stretching to Hougang Avenue 2, where the line is likely to swing north under Hougang Avenue 8.

Soil investigation borehole spread showing locations at Serangoon North/Hougang West in relation to Tavistock as of
07 January 2018.

Soil Investigation: Tavistock / Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2

We will soon be concluding our coverage of soil investigations along the Cross Island Line East (CRLe) section. However, till then, there are another 2 sites at which we have noted intense soil investigation works. One of these is at a location which we're referring to as Tavistock, which is located near Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 and north of Serangoon Gardens.

Spread of soil investigations at Tavistock/Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 as of 07.01.2019.

Renders - Indicative of station locations

Recently, we came across a few renders for stations along the Cross Island Line (CRL) and Jurong Region Line (JRL - you can view these here). Two of these show Ang Mo Kio station and potentially how it integrates with the existing North South Line (NSL) station.

A render showing Ang Mo Kio station at Street level.
Source: LinkedIn

Further information - Construction firsts

While casually surfing the internet to look for more details on the Cross Island Line's (CRL), we came across an interview with Henry Foo, a director on the Thomson-East Coast Line with the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Portions of his interview gave light on potential construction firsts for the local rail scene in Singapore.

Source: Asia Pacific Rail

Soil Investigation: Sin Ming / Bright Hill

To start off, we'd like to wish all our readers a Happy New Year and may 2019 hold the best in store for you. Likewise, to start the year off on a good note, we'll be looking soil investigation works at the Cross Island Line's (CRL) eastern phase's western terminus - Bright Hill station on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).