Hume MRT station opening in Q2 2025, more to follow
Hume MRT station on the Downtown Line (DTL) will open in the second quarter of 2025, while the sixth stage of the Circle Line (CCL6) will open in the first half of 2026.
In the second half of 2026, a 2.2km DTL extension in the east linking Expo station to the future Xilin and Sungei Bedok stations will open, as will the fifth stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), which comprises Bedok South and Sungei Bedok stations.
Giving firmer updates on the progress of these rail projects, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a year-end media interview on Dec 3 that the Government is not done expanding the MRT network, though he was coy about the details, citing the need for further studies.
When it opens, Hume station will serve more than 20,000 residents in the area between Hillview and Beauty World MRT stations. Work to fit out the long-empty station, a shell structure built in 2015, began in 2021 after years of lobbying.
The Government had said developments in the area and ridership growth did not warrant the station opening. But this changed following moves to redevelop the Rail Corridor and the former Bukit Timah Fire Station.
Meanwhile, CCL6, which comprises three new underground stations – Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward Road – will close the loop between HarbourFront and Marina Bay stations.
Announced in 2015, the 4km extension was slated to be operational in 2025, but this was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When completed, it is expected to shorten travel time and give passengers alternative routes that bypass the busy interchanges at City Hall and Raffles Place stations.
The DTL extension in the east has also had multiple hold-ups, most recently due to construction challenges related to tunnelling near existing critical infrastructure. TEL Stage 5 has faced similar delays.
The minister told reporters at his ministry’s office in Alexandra Road that a larger rail network means a bigger surface area for things to go wrong.
He urged the public transport sector to maintain the trust and teamwork that have helped to improve and strengthen rail reliability over the years.
Mr Chee said the entire MRT network clocked about 2.2 million train-km between failures for the 12 months that ended in November, up from about two million train-km in October and 1.8 million train-km in September.
This reliability improvement came in the wake of a massive breakdown that crippled rail services between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on the East-West Line in late September.
Noting that it is unrealistic to expect no incidents to occur, Mr Chee said the key is how Singapore responds to them.
“We want to make sure that we deal with every incident properly, learn the right lessons and see how we can improve further,” he added.
“But I think it’s also important to bear in mind that, beyond the incidents, there are many more ongoing projects, developments and improvements that we are making.”
Looking further ahead, Mr Chee said the Government will press on with its other rail projects, including the Jurong Region and Cross Island lines, which will open in stages from 2027 and 2030, respectively.
In addition, a DTL extension in the west has been planned for the mid-2030s, going beyond Bukit Panjang station and connecting with the North-South Line at a new Sungei Kadut interchange station.
The TEL will also be extended in the mid-2030s to connect with Changi Airport, passing through the future Terminal 5.
Beyond what has already been announced, the Transport Ministry, together with the Ministry of National Development and Urban Redevelopment Authority, will continue to study new possibilities for the MRT network, Mr Chee said.
However, he said he was not ready to provide more details just yet, pointing to various considerations, including land-use plans, physical site constraints and budgeting.
Reflecting on what he described as a challenging year for the transport sector, the minister said it is up to Singaporeans to decide how he has performed so far at the helm.
Mr Chee, who was appointed acting transport minister in 2023 and became a full minister in January 2024, added: “Transport is a tough portfolio and there are many challenges. Somebody has to do this job, and since it’s been given to me, I’ll do my best.”
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