By Ashley Karen
Singapore’s LTA (Land Transport Authority) has granted two civil contracts for the Cross Island Line project.
The first contract is for the design and construction of the Punggol interchange station for the Cross Island Line – Punggol Extension (CPe). The second is for the design and construction of an excavated tunnel between Fairways Drive and Sin Ming Walk as part of the Cross Island Line Phase 2 (CRL2) package.
The first contract was awarded to Woh Hup Limited having a worth of nearly 496 million SGD (299 million GBP). The 7.3-kilometre CPe will comprise four stations: Punggol, Riviera, Elias and Pasir Ris.
Three of the stations will serve as interchanges with other lines. Pasir Ris will connect to the East-West Line, Punggol will connect to the North-East Line, and Riviera will link to the current station of the same name on the Punggol LRT line. This will provide better rail connectivity and more outstanding accessibility for those living in eastern areas such as Pasir Ris and Tampines North, plus north-eastern areas such as Punggol and Sengkang. Over 40,000 households are anticipated to benefit from the CPe.
The new Punggol interchange station is located along Punggol Central. in This contract, traffic and utility diversions will be carried out to boost the construction works and minimise inconvenience to residents and motorists. The works also contain addition & alteration works to the current NEL Punggol station to enable seamless transfer and improve connectivity between NEL, LRT and the new CPe station.
With a value of about $758M, the contract for the design and construction of the excavated tunnel between Fairways Drive and Sin Ming Walk under the CRL 2 was awarded to Obayashi Corporation and Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Joint Venture.
A 12m in diameter slurry TBM will be used to build the single 5 km-long tunnels with two tracks in it. A 2km stretch of the excavated tunnel alignment will under cross the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Then, the tunnel will be built up to about 70 m deep under the ground level, deeper than the standard 20-30m.
LTA had earlier carried out a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment and will implement all the required mitigation measures outlined in the Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan. During the construction works, LTA and the contractor will also persist to engage different stakeholders such as nature groups.
Construction works for the CPe Punggol interchange station plus the excavated tunnel between Fairways Drive and Sin Ming Walk for CRL2 are anticipated to begin in the first half of 2023, with passenger service targeted to start in 2032.
CRL (the Cross Island Line) is Singapore’s eighth MRT line. It will help existing and future developments in the eastern, north-eastern and western corridors, connecting key hubs such as Jurong Lake District, Punggol Digital District and Changi region. The CRL will have nearly half of its stations as interchanges with other rail lines, making it more comfortable and convenient for commuters to travel across the rail network.
As stated, CRL will be built in three phases. Declared in 2019, CRL Phase 1 is 29 kilometres long and includes 12 stations from Aviation Park to Bright Hill. As of March this year, all the civil contracts for CRL Phase 1 had been granted. Construction works have started and are anticipated to be finished by 2030.
CRL Phase 2, declared in September 2022, is roughly 15 kilometres and includes six underground stations – Turf City, King Albert Park, Maju, Clementi, West Coast and Jurong Lake District. Engineering studies for the CRL Phase 3 are continuing. Once the studies are completed, further details will be available.
