11 new Thomson East Coast Line stations expected to open in second half of 2022

An additional 11 stations on the Thomson East Coast Line (TEL) are expected to open in the second half of 2022, announced Minister for Transport S Iswaran at the Committee of Supply debate on Mar 9.

He shared that the opening of these new stations will allow residents in the north to have direct access to the stations in the cities.

Travel time for north-side residents will be drastically reduced with easy access to areas such as Shenton Way, Great World, and Maxwell. 

“When TEL is fully opened over the next few years, more than 240,000 households will be within a 10-minute walk from a TEL station,” he added.

The expanding of TEL as well as the opening of new lines in the future is all part of MOT’s efforts to reach their goal of having 8 in 10 households to be within a 10-minute walk of the nearest train station by 2030. 

In his speech, Mr Iswaran also addresses the efforts in place to ensure inclusiveness for their vulnerable commuters. 

Vulnerable commuters like senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) can benefit from the $20 million set aside for Public Transport Vouchers. This is to ease the potential financial burdens that these vulnerable commuters may face because of the fare increase. 

In January, around 975,000 vulnerable commuters had concession cards for access to public transportation. With these cards, they receive a 55 per cent discount from the adult fare depending on the trip. 

In addition, the Government spends more than $2 billion every year to subsidise transport fares for all commuters. This leads to an average of $1 subsidised for every trip on public transport in Singapore. 

“Even as we manage increasing costs, we have always sought to keep public transport affordable for all Singaporeans, especially for vulnerable commuters like our seniors and persons with disabilities,” said Mr Iswaran.