Train service changes needed for works on 3 stations on Changi Airport stretch

MRT passengers will need to bear with changes to train services along certain stretches of the East-West Line (EWL) in the coming years, as extensive modifications to three EWL stations — Tanah Merah, Expo and Changi Airport — are set to begin in the third quarter of 2025.

- Kok Yufeng

The modifications will convert the three EWL stations into Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) stations, as part of a larger plan to create a direct MRT connection from Changi Airport to Singapore's city centre.

More details about this were released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on July 25.

LTA told The Straits Times that train service changes on the EWL will be needed to carve out additional engineering hours to carry out the works.

More information about the service changes will be made public after detailed planning is done, it said.

Alternative travel options, such as shuttle bus services, will be made available to minimise the impact on passengers, LTA added.

When converted, the stretch between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport stations will become part of a new TEL extension, which will pass through the future Terminal 5 (T5), where there will be a new station, and connect with the upcoming Sungei Bedok TEL station, which is slated to open in the second half of 2026.

This 14km extension is expected to be completed in the mid-2030s, LTA said in response to queries. This is the same period that T5 will open.