CRL - A snapshot in July 2026

A compilation of the various sites across Phases 1 and 2 in July 2026.

With the announcement of the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s final phase on 31 July 2026, we now know that the line will stretch for 67km, making this line the longest in the country - beating out the East-West Line (EWL)'s record of 54km by a fair bit. This means that the CRL is a really big project, spanning end-to-end across the entire country. While the EWL also crosses the island from east to west, it mostly sticks to the southern section of the island. In comparison, the CRL swings further north and south than the EWL, making its route much more varied and spread out. This translates into it being much more difficult to easily visit and keep track of all contract sites.

For this update, we tried to cover as much ground as we could to give you an idea of where the line stands in progress. As phase 3 was only announced right at the end of the month, we won't be yet including that section in this update. Nonetheless, all the previous phases of the line that were officially announced are covered in this update in some way, form or manner. There's a lot to unpack, so jump right on in after the jump.

CRL1, CPE & CRL2 - Tunneling update for June

January 2026 - Factory Acceptance Test for contract CR203 tunnel boring machines in China.
Source: LinkedIn

June was quite a significant month for the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s tunneling works. Significant progress has been made along Phase 1 and along the Punggol Extension. We take a look at the some of the contracts where tunneling works made progress in the month of June.

CR117 - Completion of westbound tunnel

Graphical representation of tunneling progress for contract CR117. Based on compilation of
available information and may not be the most accurate nor up to date.

Contract CR117 has been one of the more elusive contracts to track progress of, mainly due to the different geology at the location which necessitated different construction methods. For instance, the earth retaining & stabilising structure (ERSS) employed at the site uses bore piles instead of diaphragm walls. Similarly, it has been a little difficult to track the progress of tunneling works. Nonetheless, we've managed to probe a bit more and finally have some idea of the progress when it comes to tunneling.

Undated image - A photo of the slurry tunnel boring machine used for the contract.
Source: Skymard / Hnjtx / China Construction Machinery Association

CRL - A snapshot in July 2025

Overview of CRL1 works under contracts CR106 - CR117 as at July 2025.
Top (L - R): CR106 - Loyang, CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris, CR6 - Tampines North
Middle (L - R): CR110 – Large diameter tunnel, CR7 - Defu, CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North
Bottom (L - R): CR10 – Tavistock, CR11 – Ang Mo Kio, CR12 - Teck Ghee, CR13 - Bright Hill

There's a fair bit to update in this snapshot of the Cross Island Line (CRL) for July 2025. This update will mainly focus on progress along phase 1 of the line, the section with the most progress thus far due to the section's earlier announcement, contract award and commencement in general. Nonetheless, tunneling is also underway across all announced phases thus far, so we will touch a little on the progress made on that front thus far. All this & more after the jump.

CRL - A snapshot in May 2025

An overview of CRL1 contracts CR101 - CR111 as of May 2025.
Top (L - R) : CR101 - Changi East Depot, CR102 - Tunnels, CR103 - Aviation Park station
Middle (L - R) : CR106 - Loyang station, CR107 - Pasir Ris East station, CR108 - Pasir Ris station
Bottom (L - R) : CR109 - Tampines North station, CR110 - Large bored tunnel, CR111 - Defu station

An overview of CRL1 contracts CR112 - CR117, CPE contracts P102 & P103 and CRL2 contract CR202 as of May 2025.
Top (L - R) : CR112 - Hougang station, CR113 - Serangoon North station, CR115 - Tavistock station
Middle (L - R) : CR116 - Ang Mo Kio station, N109A - Teck Ghee station, CR117 - Bright Hill station
Bottom (L - R) : P102 - Elias station, P103 - Cripple siding, CR202 - Large bored tunnel

An overview of CRL2 contracts CR205 - CR211 as of May 2025.
Top (L - R) : CR205 - King Albert Park station, CR206 - Maju station
Middle (L - R) : CR207 - Tunnels, CR208 - Clementi station, CR209 - West Coast station
Bottom (L - R) : CR210 - Tunnels, CR211 - Jurong Lake District station

It has been a while since we've done a snapshot feature of the Cross Island Line (CRL), with our last being done in February for the Punggol Extension. Part of this stems for the works being "less noticeable", since the majority of this takes place underground and relatively out of sight. Another part is that it also appears that updates on the CRL aren't as popular compared to updates on other lines (granted, the above ground line updates are A LOT more interesting as you actually see things change with most monthly updates). Nonetheless, we thought it's time to see where the CRL is in progress with this rather comprehensive mid-year update.

CRL - A snapshot in August 2024

 

An overview of 2 CRL1 contracts as of August 2024.
Top: Changi East depot
Bottom: Contract CR110 launch shaft at Paya Lebar Air Base

Overview of CRL1 stations CR3 - CR11 as of August 2024.
Top (L - R): CR3 - Loygang, CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris
Middle (L - R): CR6 - Tampines North, CR7 - Defu, CR8 - Hougang
Bottom (L - R): CR9 - Serangoon North, CR10 – Tavistock, CR11 – Ang Mo Kio

Overview of CRL1 stations CR12 – CR13, CPE stations CP2 – CP4 & CRL2 stations CR15 –
CR18 as of August 2024.
Top (L - R): CR12 – Teck Ghee, CR13 – Bright Hill, CP2 – Elias
Middle (L - R): CP3 – Riviera, CP4 – Punggol, CR15 – King Albert Park
Bottom (L - R): CR16 – Maju, CR17 – Clementi, CR18 – West Coast

With the award of contract CR207 for tunnels between Maju and Clementi stations in August, all civil contracts across the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s phases 1, 2 and Punggol extension have been awarded. Work on phase 1 and the Punggol extension were well underway while works along phase 2 were at different stages owing to the contract award progress.

CRL - A snapshot in July 2024

Overview of CRL1 contracts CR102 - CR115 as of July 2024.
Top (L - R):  CR102 - Tunnels at Changi East, CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris
Middle (L - R): CR6 - Tampines North, CR110 – Large diameter tunnel, CR7 - Defu
Bottom (L - R): CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North, CR10 – Tavistock 

Overview of CRL1 contracts CR116 & N109A, CPE contracts P102 - P103 & CRL2 contracts
CR205 - CR211 as at July 2024.
Top (L - R): CR11 - Ang Mo Kio, CR12 - Teck Ghee, CP2 - Elias
Middle (L - R): P103 Cripple siding, CR15 - King Albert Park, CR16 - Maju
Bottom (L - R): CR17 - Clementi, CR18 - West Coast, CR19 - Jurong Lake District

July was a momentous month for the Cross Island Line (CRL). All civil contracts for the construction of stations across phases 1, 2 and the Punggol extension were awarded. Along phase 1, several contracts were in the midst of Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) assembly and subsequent launch as well. In this update, we take a brief look at the progress made across the line's first few phases.

CR117 - Bright Hill update Q1 & Q2 2024

 

20 June 2024 - A view eastwards of the site stretching up to Eunoia Junior College.

It's about the middle of 2024 already. With time ticking away, we'd thought we'd bring you up to speed on the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s Bright Hill station progress for the first half of the year, combining the updates for both Q1 and Q2 into a single post. Somehow looking at the pictures, we think that would give us some more things to talk about than if the quarterly updates were done individually.

CRL - A snapshot in May 2024

Overview of CRL1 stations CR4 - CR7 as at May 2024.
Top (L - R): CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris
Bottom (L - R): CR6 - Tampines North, CR7 - Defu

Overview of CRL1 stations CR8 - CR11 as at May 2024.
Top (L - R): CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North
Bottom (L - R): CR10 – Tavistock, CR11 – Ang Mo Kio

Overview of CRL1 stations CR12, CR13, CR15 & CR17 as at May 2024.
Top (L - R): CR12 - Teck Ghee, CR13 - Bright Hill
Bottom (L - R): CR15 - King Albert Park, CR17 - Clementi

Another week, and another month goes by. We're now clearly heading towards the middle of the year with June underway. Here's a look back at the progress made at the various Cross Island Line station sites in May 2024. There's a bit more to see now that some of the Tunnel Boring Machines are in the ground and beginning their boring journeys through the east to construction the line.

CRL - A snapshot in April 2024

 

Overview of CRL1 stations CR4 - CR13 as of April 2024.
Top (L - R): CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5 - Pasir Ris, CR6 - Tampines North
Middle (L - R): CR7 - Defu, CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North
Bottom (L-R): CR10 - Tavistock, CR11 - Ang Mo Kio, CR13 - Bright Hill

We're pretty much done with April of 2024 - what a quick first third of the year it has been! Things are quickly becoming serious over along the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s first phase of 12 stations stretching from Aviation Park to Bright Hill with tunnel boring machines (TBMs) being delivered to site and lowered into launch shafts, station box excavation starting and bored piling continuing. We'll do a brief overview of the CRL1 stations as of the end of April 2024. More after the jump!

CRL - A snapshot in March 2024

Overview of CRL1 stations CR4 - CR13 as at March 2024.
Top (L - R): CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris, CR7 - Defu
Middle (L - R): CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North, CR10 - Tavistock
Bottom (L - R): CR11 – Ang Mo Kio, CR12 - Teck Ghee, CR13 - Bright Hill

Overview of CPE & CRL2 stations CP2 - CP4 & CR14 - CR19 as at March 2024.
Top (L - R): CP2 - Elias, CP3 - Riviera, CP4 - Punggol
Middle (L - R): CR14 - Turf City, CR15 - King Albert Park, CR16 - Maju
Bottom (L - R): CR17 - Clementi, CR18 - West Coast, CR19 - Jurong Lake District

It's been a whirlwind first quarter of the year. We take the opportunity to check in on the progress of the various construction sites along the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s various phases in the month of March and provide a glimpse at the progress being made. Do check out the various projects after the jump.

CRL - A snapshot in February 2024

 

Overview of CRL1 stations CR3 - CR13 as at mid-to-late February 2024.
Top (L - R): CR3 - Loyang, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris, CR6 - Tampines North
Middle (L - R): CR7 - Defu, CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North
Bottom (L - R): CR10 – Tavistock, CR11 – Ang Mo Kio, CR13 - Bright Hill

Overview of CPE & CRL2 stations CP02 - CP04 & CR15 - CR18 as of mid-to-late February 2024.
Top (L - R): CP02 - Elias & CP03 - Riviera
Middle (L - R): CP05 - Punggol, CR15 - King Albert Park, CR16 - Maju
Bottom (L - R): CR17 - Clementi & CR18 - West Coast

The first few months of the year have quickly past and we're slowly getting back into the monthly routines. Here's a snapshot update of the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s various stages of construction for the month of February with work started on phase 1 and the Punggol Extension. The latest phase announced - phase 2 - has also begun early works which we also explore in this update.

CRL1 year-end update 2023

 

10 stations of the Cross Island Line's phase 1 as at end-2023.
Aviation Park & Defu are not represented in this post.

Sorry this post was a little delayed - got caught up between travelling & work. But we're here and made it to 27th December after all. For this post, we're covering the 10 stations that we have the most pictures of along the Cross Island Line (CRL)'s phase 1. The 2 stations not covered in the post today are Aviation Park and Defu. We may cover them at a later time. Nonetheless, it has been an eventful year for the CRL with the groundbreaking ceremony being held in January 2023. Construction has been well under way at all sites with work in full swing for the construction of the earth retaining & stabilising structures (ERSS). Several intermediate launch shafts have been built as well and excavation commenced at a few sites in particular.

Please be fair warned that this post is a mega-post and extremely photo-heavy. It may suck up a lot of your bandwith after the jump.

CRL1, CPE & CRL2 - A snapshot in October 2023

 

Top (L - R): CR105 - Large diameter tunnel, CR3 - Loyang, CR4 - Pasir Ris East
Middle (L - R): CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris, CR6 - Tampines North, CR7 - Defu
Bottom (L - R): CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North, CR10 – Tavistock

Top (L - R): CR11 - Ang Mo Kio, CR12 - Teck Ghee, CR13 - Bright Hill
Middle (L - R): CP2 - Elias, CP3 - Riviera, CR15 - King Albert Park
Bottom (L - R): CR16 - Maju, CR17 - Clementi, CR18 - West Coast

Here's a look at the progress made at the various Cross Island Line (CRL) sites across Phases 1, 2 & the Punggol Extension in October 2023.

CRL1 - A snapshot in August 2023

 

Overview of CRL1 stations CR4 - CR13 as at August 2023.
Top (L - R): CR4 - Pasir Ris East, CR5/CP1 - Pasir Ris, CR6 - Tampines North
Middle (L - R): CR7 - Defu, CR8 - Hougang, CR9 - Serangoon North
Bottom (L - R): CR11 - Ang Mo Kio, CR12 - Teck Ghee, CR13 - Bright Hill

Since you seemed to enjoy the snapshot feature on the Jurong Region Line (JRL), we'll give this a try for the Cross Island Line (CRL) as well. With time, the 3 CRL Punggol Extension (CPE) stations can also be featured together with the 6 CRL2 stations in future updates. But that is still some time away as yet. For the moment, here's the snapshot of 9 CRL1 stations as of August 2023.

CRL1 Project Information Centre - now open!

 

29 August 2023 - Operating hours as displayed on the site office hoarding.

Recently, the Cross Island Line (CRL) phase 1's Project Information Centre (PIC) has been opened to the public. Operating hours for the PIC are during weekdays during office hours. Do note that you will need to get in touch with the Public Relations Officer to secure a slot before heading down so that the PIC will be manned during your visit. Not doing so may result in disappointment should the officer be engaged and unable to open the centre for you. Nonetheless, the team paid a visit to the PIC today and are here to relay what you can find once you are there.

CR117 - Bright Hill update Q2 2023

 

29 June 2023 - A view of the Thomson-East Coast Line station exit with contract CR117 work
ongoing behind.

Penta Ocean's back in Bright Hill - formerly the contractor for contract T211 to construct Bright Hill Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) station and now the contractor for contract CR117 for the Cross Island Line (CRL) portion of the station. Over the past quarter, the work site has moved from a preparatory mode into one of proper construction. Site set up seems to have been completed and work is underway for the diversion of drainage lines. Works at the site have also involved a small road diversion and more equipment for the commencement of bored piling has turned up on site.

CRL1 & CPE - Official Telegram Channels

 

Telegram groups have become the new means through which the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has digitised its outreach to stakeholders with new rail projects. The messaging platform has been used as a uni-directional channel through which circulars and updates on the various construction contracts are pushed out to residents, businesses and commuters in the area where construction works are taking place. The first wide-spread adoption was undertaken by the Circle Line Stage 6 (CCL6) project and subsequently adopted by the Jurong Region Line (JRL) as well. It appears that the Cross Island Line (CRL) is using this as well. We attempt to consolidate the links for you to join the Telegram channels as well, which have been rolled out for CRL1 and CPE sections, for which all civil contracts have been awarded thus far. It is assumed that the same will follow for CRL2 once the contracts have been awarded and for CRL3 in due time as well.

CRL1 - New videos

 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) today uploaded a new video showing a flythrough of the upcoming Bright Hill station, the western terminus for the Cross Island Line (CRL) phase 1 which is due to open in 2030. An interchange station with the existing Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), provisions were made during the former's construction to allow paid linkways to connect to the future station and also for the future line's tunnels to cross over the existing station structure. We've extracted several screenshots from the flythrough video after the jump for your browsing pleasure. Additionally, we have also collated some other videos that LTA has posted up since our last update in March. All are available after the jump.

CR117 - Bright Hill Q1 2023 update

 

19 March 2023 - An overview of the eastern end of the contract site.

Contract CR117 was the last civil contract awarded for the Cross Island Line (CRL) phase 1, hence progress at the site is not as advanced as at other contracts awarded earlier, for instance Pasir Ris or Hougang. None the less, the site appears to have been cleared and preparatory works underway to commence earthwork for the construction of retaining walls.