Architectural and engineering analysis likely to take 2 years
Christopher Tan Straits Times 2 Nov 11;
COMPANIES on both sides of the Causeway will this month be invited to bid for the right to undertake an architectural and engineering study of the proposed Singapore-JB MRT link.
The feasibility study is expected to take a little over two years to complete, and will cover details such as the alignment of the line, the size of the stations, whether it should be a surface or an undersea connection, construction methods and cost.
A notice inviting firms to take part in the tender appeared in Malaysian newspapers yesterday. But Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday that the notice was a little too early, as the tender is not yet open.
Singapore Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said during a visit to Putrajaya early last month that both countries would put out a tender at the same time, inviting firms to bid.
The Straits Times understands that the tender will open this month. And engineering consultancy firms are looking forward to it.
Mr Rajan Krishnan, senior vice-president (Asia) of Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has conducted several infrastructural feasibility studies here, said: 'There will be interest among consultants doing these kinds of studies. We look forward to the tender documents to see the exact terms.'
Mr John Davies, director of infrastructure at engineering group Arup, said: 'Of course we're interested. We've done a number of cross-border studies of this kind in Hong Kong, and we're quite familiar with them.'
Talks of an MRT extension to Johor Baru date back as far as 1989, soon after the first MRT trains started rolling here.
But it was not until May last year that the plans were made concrete, following a land swop deal between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak.
It was then announced that there would be a metro link between the two countries by 2018. During his visit to Malaysia last month, Mr Lui said the project was 'on time and on track'.
The link is expected to be an extension of the Thomson MRT Line, which is also scheduled for completion by 2018.
It is expected to run from a station near JB Sentral in Johor Baru to one near Republic Polytechnic in Woodlands - the Thomson Line's northernmost stop.
The cross-border link will feature combined customs, immigration and quarantine facilities in both Singapore and Johor Baru. This means commuters will need to clear immigration only once per trip.
Engineering studies for the underground Thomson Line are under way. The line will run along the north-south corridor from Woodlands to Marina Bay.
While the LTA said the line would have four-carriage trains, it said the length, the number of stations and the location of stations are still not confirmed.
However, it has been confirmed that the Thomson Line will interchange with the North-South Line at the Woodlands station.
