WORK on the second stage of the Downtown MRT Line will start this month, with the first civil contract going to a Singapore-Korea joint venture.
Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure and Korea's GS Engineering and Construction have clinched the deal to build the line's depot near Woodlands for $410.7 million, the Land Transport Authority said yesterday.
The project includes constructing tunnels leading to and from the depot, which is sited on a 21ha plot that was once largely occupied by a Teochew cemetery.
Stage II of the Downtown Line is 16.6km long and has 12 stations. It spans from Gali Batu in Choa Chu Kang in the north to Rochor in the south, where it joins Stage I - a 4.3km loop to Marina.
Stops in Stage II include Bukit Timah's Sixth Avenue, King Albert Park and Beauty World, as well as the Botanic Gardens and Newton. The line will be completed in 2015.
The final stage of the Downtown Line - a 19.1km project linking the eastern part of Singapore to the city - will be completed in 2016.
Singapore's rail network expansion does not stop there.
Future projects include the Thomson Line, joining Woodlands to Marina Bay; and the Eastern Region Line, connecting Changi to Marina Bay via Marine Parade.
They are due to be completed in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
The depot for Downtown Line Stage II marks GS Engineering's first infrastructural project in Singapore. The company is currently building the Seoul Subway Line and Goyang Train Depot in South Korea.
Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure is no stranger to MRT projects. It built the Circle Line's Kim Chuan Depot - the world's largest underground depot.
The entire 40km-long Downtown Line is expected to cost $12 billion. So far, about $3.2 billion worth of contracts have been awarded.
Source: Straits Times, 3 Mar 2009
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