11 stations in 3rd stage of TEL to start operating by end of this year

The Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) stations at Stevens to Gardens by the Bay are set to open on 13 November 2022, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced Friday (7 October 2022).

To mark the stations opening, all passengers will be allowed to take a free train on Nov 11 between stations covering a distance of 13.2km.  To get commuters acquainted with 11 stations, an introductory event is being held Nov 11, two days before stations are scheduled to be opened.

The stations will together link commuters from the TEL with all existing MRT lines, LTA said in a media briefing. More than 180,000 households will be within 10 minutes walking distance from any of 22 TEL stations once fully operational.

With their opening, Outram Park and Marina Bay stations would also be elevated to tri-line stations. With the new connections at Outram Park for the East West line and the North East line, as well as Stevens for the Downtown Line, TEL is now connected with every other MRT line in Singapore.

The LTA said Friday that opening the stations would improve resilience on the Singapore MRT lines, by relieving pressure on North South Line, where segments of it runs parallel to TEL.

Prior to the opening, the nine TEL stations, from Woodlands North to Caldecott, were opened in two phases, January 2020 and August 2021. With the opening of stage three, there are still two stages to go, for 10 stations stretching from Founders Memorial to Sungei Bedok.