By Lynda Myer
The CRL, Singapore’s eighth MRT line, is a 50km long project and fully underground. It will help to available and latter developments in the eastern, western, and north-eastern corridors. Some main hubs such as Jurong Lake District, Punggol Digital District and the Changi region will link together using the CRL. It is estimated that the CRL will see a daily ridership of at least 600,000 in the primary years, enhancing to one million in the long term. This project, which is going to be built in three phases, will have around half of its stations as exchanges with other train lines, for providing easier and more convenient travel across the rail network.
Due to the concerns declared by all stakeholders and the findings of the comprehensive two-phased Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Government has chosen to pursue direct alignment for the stretch of the Cross Island Line in the vicinity of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR). The news about two EIA phases were released in 2016 and 2019 respectively.
The figure refers to Direct (blue line) and Skirting (pink line) alignment options. CCNR boundary marked by black line.
The CRL1, which has 29 km length and includes 12 stations from Aviation Park to Bright Hill (working names), will serve inhabitable and industrial areas like Loyang, Tampines, Pasir Ris, Defu, Hougang, Serangoon North, Ang Mo Kio and also will profit more than 100,000 families. This project will improve accessibility of common recreational spaces such as Changi Beach Park and Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park by public transport. Researching on the details of next CRL phases are continuous.
