East West MRT Line

The East West Line (EWL) is the second Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. The line is currently 49.2 km long with 35 stations (including 4 more to be constructed by 2016, known as Tuas West extension), making it the longest MRT line in Singapore. It takes about 63 minutes to travel from one end to the other. The line is coloured green on MRT system maps and is operated by SMRT Corporation.

As its name implies, the line connects central Singapore to both eastern and western parts of the island, with an additional branch to Changi Airport from Tanah Merah. Cross-platform transfer to the North South Line is provided at Jurong East, City Hall and Raffles Place stations whilst transfer to the North East Line at Outram Park station is possible via a linkway. Transfer to the Circle Line is also possible at Paya Lebar and Buona Vista via underpass and linkway. Developments involving the line include the Tuas West Extension, a four station extension from Joo Koon, and the construction of the Downtown Line which will interchange with the East West Line at Bugis, Tampines and Expo.

History

Initial system

• 12 December 1987: City Hall - Outram Park
• 12 March 1988: Outram Park - Clementi
• 5 November 1988: Clementi - Lakeside
• 4 November 1989: City Hall - Tanah Merah (start of the separation of the North South Line from the East West Line)
• 16 December 1989: Tanah Merah - Pasir Ris
• 10 March 1990: Jurong East - Choa Chu Kang (initially operated as the Choa Chu Kang branch of the East West Line, became part of the North South Line on 10 February 1996 upon completion of the Woodlands Extension)
• 6 July 1990: Lakeside - Boon Lay

2nd phase of development

• 10 January 2001: Tanah Merah - Expo
• 18 October 2001: Dover (Station added on operational line)
• 8 February 2002: Expo - Changi Airport

Boon Lay Extension

Operational and running from Boon Lay to Joo Koon.

• 28 February 2009: Boon Lay - Joo Koon

Tuas West Extension

Tuas West Extension is an extension of the East-West Line from Joo Koon station, consisting of a 7.5km long twin tracked MRT viaduct, four aboveground stations and a depot. The MRT viaduct is also integrated with a road viaduct along Pioneer Road.

The stations - Tuas, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West and Tuas Link - will improve the MRT connectivity in the Tuas area. With the Tuas West Extension, commuters working in the Jurong and Tuas industrial estates will enjoy significantly better public transport connectivity and enhanced accessibility. Commuters to the Tuas area can also look forward to savings in travelling time by up to 35 minutes. When operational in 2016, Tuas West Extension is expected to serve about 100,000 commuters daily.^[1]

• 2016: Joo Koon - Tuas Link

Stations

Changi Airport Extension

Note: SMRT had used to operate the branch sector of Tanah Merah to Changi Airport as a through line from Boon Lay (Boon Lay - Changi Airport via Tanah Merah, Joo Koon was not built at that time) since the opening of Changi Airport station on 2002 until July 22, 2003. This was due to low demand on Expo and Changi Airport that made SMRT revert this sector as shuttle service.^[2] Similar to the through service, the interval of trains remained as 12 minutes per train.

Rolling stock

Four batches of rolling stock are in service on the line, i.e. the Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151, the Siemens C651, Kawasaki Heavy Industries & Nippon Sharyo C751B and the Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151A. These trains operate from the two depots along the East West Line, the Ulu Pandan Depot near Jurong East MRT Station and the Changi Depot after Tanah Merah MRT Station. Currently, there are 18 Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151A in service as of December 2011 and 4 more will be in service by January 2012.

Additional information

Lunchtime Xpress services operate on weekdays from 12pm to 2pm (excluding public holidays) between Outram Park and Aljunied to cater to greater demand on this stretch. ^[3]

Removed Services

5 cross-line services used to operate during the morning peak hours, starting from Ang Mo Kio station on the North South Line as northbound service, crossing over to East West Line upon reaching Jurong East station and continuing service on the East West Line towards Pasir Ris station as eastbound service. This has been removed since 27 December 2011 so as to enhance eastbound service on the East West Line, especially between Joo Koon and Jurong East.

References