Construction starts on Cross Island Line Phase 2; 6 MRT stations in S’pore’s west ready by 2032
by Kok Yufeng, 08 July 2025
SINGAPORE – Construction on six MRT stations that make up
Phase 2 of the upcoming Cross Island Line (CRL)has officially begun, withtunnellingthat will go underneath Singapore’s largest nature reserve having started in May.The works on this phase, which runs from Turf City to Jurong Lake District, also include building Singapore’s deepest underground station in King Albert Park at 50m – or 16 storeys – below ground. This surpasses Bencoolen station on the Downtown Line, which is 43m deep.
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said on July 7 that engineering studies for the third phase of the CRL are nearing completion, with more details about
future stations serving the Jurong Industrial Estateexpected at the end of 2025.The CRL, Singapore’s eighth MRT line, will significantly improve the resilience of the rail network, Mr Siow said during a ground-breaking ceremony for CRL Phase 2 in Clementi, where he toured an information centre with interactive displays about the rail project.
The CRL will be connected to all existing lines except the Circle Line, with eight of its 21 announced stations serving as interchanges.
Describing it as Singapore’s “next outer ring”, Mr Siow said the line will provide passengers with more alternative routes during rail disruptions and potentially open up new windows for maintenance, a task now restricted to night hours.
“As our rail network expands and ages, more maintenance and renewal works will be needed,” he added, citing the New York subway and the London Underground as examples of metro systems that schedule maintenance during the day.
Time savings
Spanning 50km, the CRL will be Singapore’s longest underground MRT line. Its first phase, covering 29km with 12 stations from Aviation Park to Bright Hill, is slated to open in 2030.
A four-station extension from Pasir Ris to Punggol will open in 2032. CRL Phase 2 is also expected to be completed by then.
Mr Jeffrey Siow (centre, in printed shirt) described the CRL as the “next outer ring”, providing passengers with more alternative routes during rail disruptions.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
The 15km second phase includes interchanges with the Downtown Line at King Albert Park and the East-West Line in Clementi. The remaining two stations are in Maju and West Coast.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said transfer links to the CRL will be built at the existing Clementi and King Albert Park stations. This will be done in stages to minimise disruption.
While it has not given cost estimates for the rail line, the authority has awarded more than $16.6 billion in contracts so far, including tenders for the Changi East depot, the trains and rail systems.
The design and construction of the stations and tunnels for CRL Phase 2 alone will cost upwards of $4 billion.
When completed, this phase of the CRL will
benefit 40,000 households, including those living in Sunset Way and West Coast Road, which are not served by the MRT today.LTA expects a significant reduction in travel time for passengers, with journeys from West Coast to Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park cut by up to 40 minutes via public transport.
As for the third phase of the line, past tenders indicate that it will comprise at least four stations, with possible interchanges at Jurong Pier station on the future Jurong Region Line and Gul Circle station on the East-West Line.
The CRL is expected to have a daily ridership of at least 600,000, growing to one million in the long term.
Mr Siow said this will likely be the last MRT line that cuts across the island from east to west, as there is no more underground space. But there are provisions to move the CRL up from six-car trains to eight-car trains to cater to future demand.
Environmental impact
A major concern during the early planning stages of the CRL was whether a stretch between Bright Hill and Turf City would run directly under the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) or skirt around it.
After an in-depth study, the Ministry of Transport decided in 2019 that the CRL will run underneath the CCNR at a depth of up to 80m – the deepest any MRT tunnel will go here.
LTA said this 5km section of tunnel will be built using
a large-diameter tunnel-boring machinethat is12.8m wide and capable of creating a two-track tunnel at one go.
The CRL, Singapore’s eighth MRT line, will be connected to all existing lines except the Circle Line.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
To improve environmental sustainability, the stations in CRL Phase 2 will be built using steel and concrete produced with methods that emit less carbon.
The use of electric machinery, such as battery-powered excavators and cranes, will also be explored to reduce emissions and noise.
LTA said it has been working with nature groups since 2013, noting improvements that have resulted from this partnership. These include more than halving a worksite area in Windsor near the CCNR and installing rope bridges to allow the safe movement of animals across roads.
As CRL Phase 2 will cut across biodiverse areas such as Eng Neo Avenue Forest and Clementi Forest, comprehensive environmental impact assessments were done, and an environmental monitoring and management plan has been rolled out.
Mitigating measures include the creation of a new freshwater marsh in King Albert Park and the establishment of a biodiversity training centre in Fairways Drive, off Eng Neo Avenue, to provide mandatory wildlife awareness training for site workers, LTA added.
It was reported that even with these measures, CRL Phase 2 could still deal a major blow to nearby forests due to irreversible habitat loss. LTA said it will continue to engage with nature groups throughout the construction and operation of the line.Environmental consultant Tony O’Dempsey, who was involved in discussions on the CRL’s impact in the 2010s, said he is happy with the compromises made.
The biggest concern then was the risk posed by soil investigations, which involve boring 70m-deep holes to determine the strength of the ground in the tunnelling area.
Changes were made, so only 16 boreholes were needed, down from 72, and they would not encroach on forested areas.
Another example is how the position of the MRT station in Maju was shifted to be underneath Clementi Road, so only a small percentage of nearby forest would be affected.
Said Mr O’Dempsey: “We started out in a very tense situation, and we ended up in a very friendly (one) because both sides were prepared to compromise and listen to each other.”
Kok Yufeng is a transport correspondent at The Straits Times.
Source: https://tinyurl.com/bdh77r3c
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