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SINGAPORE – The next Punggol Coast MRT station will be ready by 2024, with approximately 40 percent of construction work completed.
Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung gave this update on Friday (November 13), in a ceremony to mark the completion of tunnel boring works from the existing Punggol Station to the future Punggol Coast Station.
The new station, a 1.6 km extension of the North East Line, was initially scheduled for completion in 2023, but has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will connect travelers to the developing Punggol Digital District, a business park to be located alongside the campus of the Singapore Institute of Technology.
Mr. Ong, in his speech, said that the MRT station was an essential component of the development.
He said: “It doesn’t make sense to build a new district that people can’t get to. Just look at places like Tokyo Station in Japan, Piccadilly Circus Station in London, and Grand Central Station in New York. They are synonymous with vibrant districts. and prosperous who serve.
“I hope that the upcoming station will become synonymous with the good jobs, quality education and smart lifestyle that the Punggol Digital District brings.”
The Punggol Coast MRT station is expected to be used by more than 75,000 employees of the new business park, students and residents of the area.
It is part of the government’s plan to expand the rail network from around 230 km today to 360 km by the early 2030s, and to bring eight out of 10 households within a 10-minute walk of a train station.
The Punggol Business Park, which is being developed by JTC Corporation, will offer more than 28,000 new jobs in the fields of information and communications technology, such as cyber security and data science.
Tunneling works were completed using two TBMs, each equipped with sensors to monitor progress in real time, to ensure accuracy and minimize disturbances to the surrounding infrastructure.
Ong also referred to the importance of taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the pandemic to change the travel habits of travelers.
He noted that the pandemic has reduced passenger volume, which is currently around 70 percent of pre-Covid-19 levels.
“If employers can help adjust work hour requirements, allow workers to switch between working from home and office, our travel habits will evolve. This would be an outcome we have been yearning for for decades,” he said.
“The old habits, rushing in the morning and rush hours every day, are not logical, comfortable, efficient or environmentally friendly.”
Mr. Ong noted that the MRT system is designed to accommodate crowds during peak periods, and the system is underused during off-peak hours.
“If we could distribute passenger traffic throughout the day, everyone will have a more comfortable ride, and yet the system will serve more people,” he said.
“If travel volume picks up and everyone is traveling during the same rush hour again, then we would have wasted the crisis.”
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