Construction Starts on 6 Stations in 2nd Phase of Cross Island Line

40,000 households to benefit from this phase, which will be completed by 2032

- Kok Yufeng

Construction on six MRT stations that make up Phase 2 of the upcoming Cross Island Line (CRL) has officially begun, with tunneling that 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 Estate expected 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.

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.