Residents in Bukit Timah and Bukit Panjang will get to enjoy the convenience of the Downtown Line 2 (DTL2) earlier than expected, when it opens in December.
The line’s opening had been pushed back in July 2013 after its main contractor, Alpine Bau — which was contracted to work on the King Albert Park, Sixth Avenue and Tan Kah Kee stations for S$670.74 million — became insolvent. However, during a community visit today (June 28) to the Zhenghua division, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew announced that the resulting six-month delay has since been completely recovered.
Additional manpower and tweaks to work processes have helped bring forward the opening date to the first quarter of next year.
As a result of the stepping up of construction as well as electrical and mechanical installation work —with round-the-clock operations on some days — construction of the 12 DTL stations is now more than 95 per cent complete, the LTA said.
A control station has also been set up at Little India Station to enable basic testing for the stations to be conducted earlier.
When completed, the DTL2 will allow residents in the north-western and western regions of Singapore to get to the city centre in a shorter span of time and will ramp up public transit capacity in those areas by about 50 per cent.
Residents whom TODAY spoke to welcomed the news, noting that the DTL2 would help ease commuter crowd on buses.
“With many flats coming up in the area, I’m hoping the Downtown Line will share the commuter load during the morning and peak hours. Bukit Panjang residents have had to commute by buses, so this alternative option is a timely one,” said Ms Rachel Tan, a communications executive who has lived in Bukit Panjang for more than 25 years.
Ms Alice Ho, who resides in Segar Gardens, said she would still choose to commute by bus service 972, which plies estates further away from Bukit Panjang Road. “But DTL2 may help split the passenger load and increase the likelihood of commuters getting on earlier and less crowded buses,” she said.
Source: www.todayonline.com
