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SINGAPORE – The completion of the six stations on the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) will be delayed by three months due to the impact of Covid-19, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Friday (September 4). .
Therefore, the stations, from Springleaf to Caldecott, will open only in the first quarter of next year, as it was initially scheduled to open later this year.
The Land Transportation Authority had said in January that the second stage of the TEL is 90 percent complete and was on track to open in the latter part of this year.
But Ong said in a written response to Workers’ Party deputy Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) on Friday that the breaker period between April and June, along with the subsequent progressive reopening, had caused delays in completion. Most of the construction work was suspended during the circuit breaker.
Associate Professor Lim also asked if there would be delays in other major planned MRT projects.
Ong said: “Unlike TEL2, which is near completion and has priority for resumption of work, we will only be able to better assess the duration of delays in later phases of TEL and other MRT projects when construction activities have been resumed. more fully. “
He added that the Government remains committed to the significant expansion of the MRT network, from around 230 km today to 360 km in the early 2030s. This includes opening the remaining TEL stages and completing the circle with the Circle Line Stage. 6. Also includes construction of the North East Line extension, Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line.
The TEL, which was originally scheduled for completion in 2024, will span 43 km and serve some 500,000 commuters per day in its initial years.
It is Singapore’s sixth MRT line, with a total of 32 new stations, including eight interchange stations.
Two interchange stations, Caldecott and Bright Hill, are located on the second phase of the line.
The first stage of the line, comprising the Woodlands North, Woodlands and Woodlands South MRT stations, opened in January.
About 100,000 households will benefit from the first two phases of the line, according to previous LTA estimates.
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