Cross Island MRT line

The Cross Island Line was first announced by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on 17 January 2013. The line was planned to relieve congestion on the existing East West Line and slated to begin at Changi on Singapore's eastern coast, passing through the major eastern towns including Pasir Ris, Hougang and Ang Mo Kio. From this point, it would proceed further west toward Bukit Timah, Clementi and West Coast, before terminating in the Jurong Industrial Estate. A branch line was to connect the mainline to Punggol. The line was planned to be 50 km long and open in 2030.[7][8] Studies on the Cross Island Line began in May 2013.[9]

Final and alternate routes crossing the Central Catchment[10][11]

Since its announcement, there has been controversy over the alignment of the line's Bukit Timah stretch crossing the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) and MacRitchie Reservoir, which prompted the Nature Society Singapore to call for the line's realignment. Environmental groups have urged the Government not to build the MRT line under the CCNR.[12]

On 19 July 2013, the NSS put forward two proposed alternative alignments:[13] a northern route that would run close to the Thomson–East Coast Line, heading west towards Mandai, Sungei Kadut and Gali Batu before terminating at Choa Chu Kang, and a southern route skirting the reserve along Lornie Road. One engineering professor Lee Der-Horng noted the possible feasibility of constructing the line through the reserve without impacting the environment, though he said the decision "shouldn’t be just based on transport".[14]

A tender to assess the environmental impact of the line was called for on 24 February 2014 to facilitate civil works for the line.[15] In July 2014, the LTA appointed Environmental Resources Management (S) Pte Ltd (ERM) to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the section of the line around and through the nature reserve. The EIA was to be conducted in two phases, with the first studying the ecosystem and physical conditions along both the straight and skirting alignments, as well as assessing how construction and operation of the line would affect the CCNR.[16] The Phase 1 EIA report was released in February 2016.[17][18]

Soil investigation works along the CCNR began in February 2017 and by October, was announced to be nearing completion by the end of the year.[12] On 20 March 2018, the LTA declared that the findings on the environmental impact of drilling and other initial works would be completed later that year.[19] The Phase 2 EIA report was released in September 2019.[20] On 4 December 2019, the Ministry of Transport confirmed that the direct route underneath the CCNR had been chosen, with mitigating factors such as tunnelling deeper than usual under the CCNR as well as no surface works in the area. The construction cost is also expected to be $2 billion lower than the alternative alignments.[21]

Construction works at Hougang CRL site

On 25 January 2019, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan announced the alignment of CRL Phase 1 (CRL1). This segment of the line, spanning 29 kilometres (18 mi), consists of 12 stations from Aviation Park station to Bright Hill station. A new 57-hectare Changi East Depot was to be built to serve the line. CRL Phase 1 was expected to be completed in 2029.[22][23][24]

On 10 March 2020, a branch line from Pasir Ris station to Punggol station was announced. The 7.3-kilometre (4.5 mi) Punggol extension, consisting of four stations between this station and Punggol, was expected to be completed in 2031.[25][26] However, the restrictions imposed on construction works due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to delays and the completion dates for CRL1 and CRLe were pushed by one year to 2030 and 2032 respectively.[27] Construction of CRL1 officially began on 18 January 2023.[28][29] As of January 2022, there are no plans to extend the Punggol branch to Jalan Kayu.[30]

In December 2021, as part of a virtual exhibition by the LTA, a future system map depicted a series of 11 unnamed stations on the western half of the CRL.[31] The map also showed the western segment interchanging with existing and under-construction stations: King Albert Park, Clementi, Jurong Pier and Gul Circle stations. The map, along with the virtual exhibition, has since been offline. The LTA explained that the route was a "conceptual alignment" yet to be finalised, with the interchange stations being tentative.[32]

On 20 September 2022, Transport Minister S. Iswaran confirmed the stations for Phase 2 of the CRL. Expected to open in 2032, the 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) segment spans six stations from Turf City station to Jurong Lake District station.[33][34] Construction of these stations is expected to start in 2023.[33]

Based on tender documents, The Straits Times projected in February 2022 that civil works for the CRL might be completed by end-2033, with operations beginning in 2034 or later. The CRL is to be completed in three phases.[35] However, the LTA stated that the exact timeline is unclear and will only be known with the completion of advanced engineering studies.[36] It is projected that the second and third phases will be about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) long respectively.[37] The Phase 3 segment is predicted to have four stations, with tentative stations CR21 and CR23 on the Phase 3 segment interchanging with the Jurong Region line and the East West line.[38] An additional shell station might be built as part of the segment. As of 20 February 2022, engineering studies for Phase 3 have not yet been completed.[36][39]

In conceptual plans for the redevelopment of Paya Lebar Air Base, an additional station (labelled "PLAB") has been proposed between Defu and Tampines North stations to serve the new developments.[40]

Planned route of the Cross Island MRT line[41][42]

The 58 kilometres (36 mi)-long CRL is planned to run in a generally east–west direction, serving 27 stations[10] and being an alternative route to the existing East West (EWL) and Downtown (DTL) lines.[7][43] Phase 1 of the line goes west from Changi, in the east, to Pasir Ris. The line branches off to Punggol Digital District[25] and goes south-west towards Tampines North, and west to Hougang, and further towards Sin Ming via Ang Mo Kio.[41] Phase 2 of the line connects Bukit Timah to Sin Ming, tunneling through the CCNR, before continuing south-west to West Coast via Clementi, before heading north-west to Jurong Lake District.[42] Phase 3 concludes the line at the Jurong Industrial Estate.[42]

At least half of the CRL stations are to interchange with existing lines, providing alternative routes for commuters.[3] The LTA is also studying a possible extension to Changi Airport Terminal 5.[44]

The Government briefly considered in 2014 implementing an express service for the CRL.[45] However, Transport Minister Khaw announced in 2018 that express services were considered not feasible, citing the higher cost needed to build extra tracks and additional signalling systems that can affect non-express commuters and existing lines.[46]

Names stated are working names, except for the existing interchange stations.[22]

Legend

Elevated	Line terminus	Transfer outside paid area
Ground-level	Wheelchair accessible	Bus interchange
Underground	Civil Defence Shelter	Other transportation modes

List

Station code	Station name	Images	Interchange; Adjacent transportation	Opening	Cost
Phase 1 (under construction, to be ready by 2030)
CR2	Aviation Park	Does not appear	Changi Ferry Terminal	2030; 7 years' time	S$320 million[47][48][49]
					S$356 million[50][51][lower-alpha 1]
CR3	Loyang	Does not appear	—
					S$748 million[52][53][54]
CR4	Pasir Ris East	Does not appear			S$363 million[55][56]
CR5  CP1  EW1	Pasir Ris	Does not appear	CRL Punggol Extension  (2032)   East–West Line  ―  Pasir Ris		S$980 million[57]
CR6	Tampines North	Does not appear	Tampines North		S$397 million[58]
					S$446 million[59][60][lower-alpha 2]
CR7	Defu	Does not appear	—
					S$467 million
CR8  NE14	Hougang	Does not appear	North East Line  ―  Hougang Central		S$604 million[61]
CR9	Serangoon North	Does not appear	—		S$407 million[62][63]
CR10	Tavistock	Does not appear
CR11  NS16	Ang Mo Kio	Does not appear	North–South Line  ―  Ang Mo Kio		S$644 million[64]
CR12	Teck Ghee	Does not appear	—		S$615.9 million[65]
CR13  TE7	Bright Hill	Does not appear	Thomson–East Coast Line		S$526 million[66]
					S$758 million[67][lower-alpha 3]
Phase 2 (planned, to be ready by 2032)
CR14	Turf City	Does not appear	—	2032; 9 years' time	TBA
CR15  DT6	King Albert Park	Does not appear	Downtown Line
CR16	Maju	Does not appear	—
CR17  EW23	Clementi	Does not appear	East–West Line  ―  Clementi
CR18	West Coast	Does not appear	—
CR19	Jurong Lake District	Does not appear
Punggol Extension (under construction, to be ready by 2032)[68]
CP1  CR5  EW1	Pasir Ris	Does not appear	Cross Island Line    East–West Line  ―  Pasir Ris	2032; 9 years' time	S$980 million[69]
CP2	Elias	Does not appear	—		$562 million[70]
CP3 – PE4	Riviera	Does not appear	PGLRT East Loop		S$1.1 billion[71]
CP4  NE17  PTC	Punggol	Does not appear	North East Line    Punggol LRT   Punggol		S$496 million[71]

The tender results were published on June 2023 at the Singapore government's GeBIZ platform:[79]