Bukit Panjang LRT/MRT Station

"Bukit Panjang LRT Station" and "Bukit Panjang MRT Station" redirect here.

Bukit Panjang LRT/MRT Station (BP6/DT1) is an interchange station serving Bukit Panjang New Town. It is the western terminus for the Downtown MRT Line, with the line continuing northwards as a service route to the Gali Batu Depot. The station would be integrated with the Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange in the future.

The LRT station was opened in November 1999 and is operated by SMRT. It is connected to the Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange, also operated by SMRT,and serves as a transfer station for passengers heading towards Ten Mile Junction. It is connected via the bridge at the LRT station's mazzanine level to the MRT station that is currently under construction and will be operated by SBS Transit when opened in 2015.^[1] A short distance away from the interchange station is Bukit Panjang Plaza. It is convenient and accessible to the residents in the area.

Train service

Station Layout

History

On July 15, 2008, when the precise station locations were revealed, the working name of the station was revealed as Petir MRT Station, named after Petir Road, but led to concerns that there would be confusion with Petir LRT Station, which the station was not near to,^[2] despite similar names used. After a series of public polling by the LTA, on June 16, 2009, the finalized station name was revealed as Bukit Panjang MRT station.^[3] However, despite the name, and although located between the Bukit Panjang and Ten Mile Junction LRT Stations, it was not meant to be physically connected to either stations and thus was not indicated as an interchange station.

The location of the station and the lack of a connection to the LRT system caused local MPs to request a review, but was rejected by the LTA saying that it would be a "technical constraint" to force the line to curve sharply within a short distance to allow for a normal interchange station to be built. It may be thought that this is due to the different operators each operating the Bukit Panjang LRT Line and Downtown MRT Line, thus the name 'Bukit Panjang' was to be supposedly used twice in the MRT system map instead of being an interchange. However, it added that a covered linkway would be built between Bukit Panjang MRT Station and Bukit Panjang LRT Station, and hinted that there may be new developments on the reserve site between the two stations.^[4] Since then, the station has been marked as an interchange station, with the Bukit Panjang LRT Line, on the MRT System map.

Incidents

10000 regular peak-hour commuters were stranded on the morning of August 30, 2001 because the LRT service was still being repaired after a power failure on the evening of August 29, 2001. An LRT train had hit a switch beam at the Bukit Panjang station at about 5.40 pm on Aug 29, resulting in the power failure. It was some 16 hours later before the service resumed at 10.15am later that day.^[5]

Bus services nearby

The following bus services pass by the bus stops along Petir Road:

The following bus services pass by the bus stops along Upper Bukit Timah Road:

References