MPs give their take on future lines, now that planners are looking beyond just viability
Goh Chin Lian Straits Times 22 Aug 10;
Ideas have emerged on future MRT lines in Singapore, and none is considered far-fetched any more.
Building a second and larger Circle Line, or a northern coastal line through Punggol? What about an MRT line across the sea to Pulau Ubin?
Transport planners can now consider such ideas even if the proposed lines pass through quiet estates and are not viable on their own - so long as the whole MRT network benefits from these new connections.
The Government made clear its change in thinking on future MRT lines last Monday, and MPs gave The Sunday Times their ideas on where the tracks could lead.
The chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Transport, Dr Lim Wee
Kiak, favours a second Circle Line that connects stations in the outer parts of existing lines, say, from Yishun to Sengkang.
Passengers now have to take the North-South Line from Yishun station to Bishan interchange, hop on the Circle Line to Serangoon interchange, then take the North-East Line to Sengkang.
'The London system is almost like a grid, while ours will be more like a web with circles that radiate from the centre,' said Dr Lim, an MP for Sembawang GRC.
His deputy chairman, Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, suggests joining stations in Ang Mo Kio (North-South Line), Hougang (North-East Line) and Bedok (East-West Line) with an MRT line.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had itself provided for a larger Circle Line in its 2001 Concept Plan, to link regional centres in Tampines, Woodlands and Jurong East.
A review of the 2001 plan, to be done every 10 years, is scheduled to be completed next year.
Why not also build an MRT line to islands like Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong, suggested Dr Faishal, an MP for Marine Parade GRC.
Suggestions of other new MRT lines have also circulated on the Internet in recent years.
In 2005, for instance, a Raffles Institution student created a map of the MRT network and added
possible future lines based on URA master plans and National Library archives, among other sources.
He envisaged, among others, a North Coast Line from Woodlands to Changi, through Punggol and Pasir Ris stations.
That may not be far off the mark.
The 2001 Concept Plan had almost the same line, except it started from Sembawang instead of Woodlands.
A 2003 Land Transport Authority book, Getting There, also said Punggol station was designated an interchange between the North-East Line and a future line known as the North Shore Line.
A 40m by 40m box was built directly below the station to accommodate a future station on the North Shore Line.
Underpinning the Government's change in thinking is its assessment that MRT lines built after 2020 will be mainly underground and could take longer to become profitable on their own if they have to pass through less mature estates with low ridership.
But the spin-offs to the whole rail network could be huge, and transport planners are now better able to project such benefits after two decades of operating the MRT.
Transport GPC member Charles Chong, an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said the new policy will benefit new towns, as it takes time to build up a critical mass of passengers.
'It is a chicken-and-egg situation. People do not move into an area if the infrastructure is not developed,' he said.
Related link
Chek Jawa: a new chapter on the wildfilms blog - what an MRT line to Ubin means for Chek Jawa.
