The Thomson Line will be the sixth Mass Rapid Transit

Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)

The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...

 line in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and is currently under planning and evaluation. It will be a fully automatic and driverless system, similar to its three predecessors, and will be completely underground. Announcement of station locations is expected in October

October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the...

 2012.

In total, there will be 23 stations. En-route, the 30-kilometre line will connect from Marina Bay

Marina Bay

Marina Bay is a bay near Central Area in the southern part of Singapore, and lies to the east of the Downtown Core. Marina Bay is set to be a 24/7 destination with endless opportunities for people to “explore new living and lifestyle options, exchange new ideas and information for business, and be...

 through the Central Business District

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 and up through Ang Mo Kio

Ang Mo Kio

Ang Mo Kio（宏茂桥） is a heartland new town located in north central Singapore, and is generally within the North-East Region. It contains many of the common features of the island nation's neighbourhoods, e.g. hawker centres, wet markets and HDB housing blocks. Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien...

 all the way to Woodlands

Woodlands, Singapore

Woodlands, or the Woodlands New Town , is a suburban town in northern Singapore, part of the North West Community Development Council district...

 connecting estates such as Sin Ming

Sin Ming

Sin Ming is a district in Singapore. It is situated between MacRitchie Nature Reserve and Bishan Park. It consists of both residential and industrial area....

, Kebun Baru

Kebun Baru

Kebun Baru is a district within Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. It is located in the west of Ang Mo Kio and bounded by Mayflower district and Bishan Park.It will be served by the Kebun Baru MRT along the Thomson MRT Line in 2018.-Etymology:...

, Thomson

Thomson, Singapore

Thomson is a relatively narrow area stretching from Novena in the Central Region of Singapore up north till Yishun. The area is mainly located within the central catchment area where some of Singapore's reservoirs are located, including MacRitchie Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir and Lower Peirce...

 and Kim Seng

Kim Seng

Kim Seng Road is a street that forms the east boundary of the Bukit Merah Area, is located within the Central Region of Singapore. It was named after Peranakan philanthropist Tan Kim Seng...

 which do not yet have MRT service. A June 2011 update from the Land Transport Authority indicated that the Woodlands MRT Station

Woodlands MRT Station

Woodlands MRT Station ' is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit train station on the North South Line in Singapore. It is integrated together with the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange located beneath the station and also Causeway Point Shopping Centre, which serves as a major shopping centre for...

 will be the integration point between the Thomson Line and the North South MRT Line

North South MRT Line

The North South Line was the 1st Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. The line is currently 44 km long with 25 stations, and is operated by SMRT Corporation...

. The northern-most station will be situated near Republic Polytechnic

Republic Polytechnic

Republic Polytechnic , commonly abbreviated to RP, is a tertiary institution located in Singapore. It was the first school system in Singapore to use Problem-based learning pedagogy for all its diplomas....

 and will be integrated with the proposed RTS (Rapid Transit System) to Johor Bahru. A 32-ha depot will be at Mandai.

Completion of the 23-station line (inclusive of 3-reserve stations) is expected in 2018.

History

The TSL was first announced on 25 January 2008. Several architectural and engineering consultancy packages have been released in 2010 which indicated an increase in the number of stations from 18 in the initial announcement to 23 and length of the line from 27-km to 30-km.

It is one of four more rail systems to be built by 2020. The other three rail systems are the Circle MRT Line

Circle MRT Line

The Circle Line is Singapore's fourth Mass Rapid Transit line, operated by SMRT Corporation. This underground line is currently long with 28 stations and is fully automatically operated...

, the Downtown MRT Line

Downtown MRT Line

The Downtown Line will be the fifth Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. When completed, the line will be about 42-km long with 34 stations and serve about half a million commuters daily, making it the longest underground and driverless MRT line in Singapore. Travelling from one end to the other...

, and the Eastern Region MRT Line

Eastern Region MRT Line

The Eastern Region Line will be the seventh Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore and is currently under planning and evaluation. The construction schedule was announced in 2008 with completion set for 2020...

. Together, the four will extend the rail network from the current 138 km of track to 278 km by 2020. When completed, it will improve movement in the city centre

Central Area

In Singapore, the Central Area or Central Business District contains the core financial and commercial districts, including eleven urban planning areas, namely Downtown Core, Marina East, Marina South, Museum, Newton, Orchard, Outram, River Valley, Rochor, Singapore River and Straits View as...

, with a train station within every 400m on average, roughly equating a five minute walk. Its network density will rise from 31 km per million residents today to 51 km per million. This will surpass what Hong Kong and Tokyo have today and is comparable to current densities in places like New York and London.

On 16 June 2011, the Land Transport Authority announced the location of the depot for the line, due to begin construction at the end of 2012. It also announced Woodlands station as an interchange with the existing North-South Line and an additional station located near to Republic Polytechnic. This northern terminus would also house the Johor Bahru RTS link.

Rolling stock

Preliminary documents show that the TSL's rolling stock will differ in specifications from previous lines. Trains are expected to be 4-carriages long (in contrast to previously 6 or 3-carriage long on other lines) and have a standard of 5 doors per side per carriage (in contrast to 4 previously). The trains for the line will be stabled in a depot located in Mandai. The official name for this depot has not yet been disclosed.

Reactions

The announcement of the new rail line was greeted with much fanfare. However, there have been some concerns about costs and the long wait for the new line . On the whole, residents that live near the line have welcomed it.

List of stations

Some of the station locations for the line have been officially announced. They are:

Station Number	Station Name	Interchange
NS9	Woodlands Woodlands MRT Station Woodlands MRT Station ' is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit train station on the North South Line in Singapore. It is integrated together with the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange located beneath the station and also Causeway Point Shopping Centre, which serves as a major shopping centre for...	Interchange with North South Line North South MRT Line The North South Line was the 1st Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. The line is currently 44 km long with 25 stations, and is operated by SMRT Corporation...

Indirectly confirmed stations

In the concourse of Caldecott MRT Station, it was discovered that there is a door with a signage depicting "Paid link to TSL (Future)", thus indirectly confirming that Caldecott MRT Station is going to interchange with the Thomson MRT Line.

External links