SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Friday (Apr 30) handed over six MRT stations along the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line to train operator SMRT.

SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Friday (Apr 30) handed over six MRT stations along the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line to train operator SMRT.
This marks a key milestone in the lead-up to the opening of the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line in the third quarter of this year, said LTA in a news release.
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The second phase of the Thomson-East Coast Line had been delayed twice from its original target opening date of end-2020 due to COVID-19 as well as a system review prompted by a five-hour disruption along the line on Dec 4.
The section comprises six stations: Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson and Caldecott.
Caldecott will be an interchange station that connects to the Circle Line.
The civil and structural works for the six stations have been completed, with some architectural, electrical and mechanical works ongoing, said LTA.
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“LTA has also completed rigorous testing and commissioning of the trains and systems for (the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line), including tests to ensure that the new stations operate seamlessly with the three (operating) stations,” it added.  
The three stations of the first stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line – Woodlands North, Woodlands and Woodlands South – began operations in January 2020.
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With the second stage of the Thomson-East Coast Line in service, residents from the 100,000 or so households within a 10-minute walk from one of the nine stations can expect time savings of up to 50 per cent when using these stations, said LTA.
“For example, a Sin Ming resident travelling to Republic Polytechnic by public transport will have his journey time halved, from 50 minutes to 25 minutes.”
The entire 43km line, which will stretch from Woodlands to Sungei Bedok, was initially due to be fully operational in 2024, serving about 500,000 commuters daily in the initial years, rising to about 1 million commuters in the longer term.