Mountbatten MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Circle Line (CCL) in Kallang, Singapore. Located at the junction of Mountbatten Road, the stations serves nearby landmarks such as the Kallang Field and the Goodman Arts Centre. Lord Mountbatten Thinks of Pink, consisting of two pink-tinted panels displaying a calm ocean landscape and a ship travelling in the evening, is displayed at this station as part of the Art in Transit artwork.
First announced as part of Stage 2 of the CCL in April 2001, the station was initially named Old Airport Road, though construction was halted by the Nicoll Highway Collapse in April 2004. Old Airport station was renamed to Mountbatten in July 2005, and the station opened on 17 April 2010 along with other CCL stations from Dhoby Ghaut to Tai Seng stations.
The Circle Line contract for Old Airport Road station was awarded to a joint venture between Nishimatsu and Lum Chang for S$332 million(2002)(US$185.41 million) in August 2002.[6][7] However, the Nicoll Highway Collapse on 20 April 2004 delayed operations for Stage 2 CCL stations to 2009.[8] The LTA halted work at Old Airport Road station along with other stations under Nishimatsu to review their sites.[9][10][11]
Following a public poll, the LTA renamed Old Airport Road station to Mountbatten in July 2005.[12][13][14] In August 2009, transport minister Raymond Lim announced that Mountbatten, along with stations from Dhoby Ghaut to Tai Seng, will open by the first half of 2010;[15][16] this was later announced to be 17 April.[17] As announced in March,[18] an open house was held at Mountbatten and other stations in the Dhoby Ghaut–Tai Seng stretch by the LTA on 5 April 2010.[19] The station opened on 17 April 2010 along with the aforementioned CCL stations.[20][21][22]
Details
Dakota station serves the CCL and is between Dakota and Stadium stations, with the official station code of CC7.[23] As part of the CCL, the station is operated by SMRT Trains.[24] The station operates between 5:35am and 12:22am daily.[25] Train frequencies vary from 3.5 to an average of 5.0 minutes during peak hours to an average of 6 minutes for off-peak hours.[26] Mountbatten station is wheelchair accessible.[27] A tactile system, consisting of tiles with rounded or elongated raised studs, guides visually impaired commuters through the station,[28] with dedicated tactile routes that connect the station entrances to the platforms.[29] Wider fare gates allow easier access for wheelchair users into the station.[29] The station also has bicycle facilities.[30] Mountbatten is on the junction of Old Airport Road, Stadium Boulevard, and Mountbatten Road, and serves various nearby landmarks such as the Goodman Arts Centre, Kallang Field, and Kallang Tennis Centre.[27]
Art in Transit
As part of the Art in Transit Programme, a showcase of public artworks on the MRT, Lord Mountbatten Thinks of Pink by Jason Wee is displayed at Mountbatten station.[31]Lord Mountbatten Thinks of Pink is located at the corridor to Exit B, and consists of two pink-tinted panels parallel to each other, one of them depicting a calm ocean landscape during dawn, and the other illustrating a blurred container ship traveling on the ocean during the evening.[32] The ship is blurred as commuters could associate it with any ships, despite Wee originally photographing the boat when it was parked.[33] Wee took inspiration from Mountbatten pink, a shade of pink promoted as a camouflage for ships by British naval commander Louis Mountbatten, the namesake of Mountbatten Road and Mountbatten station; Wee intended the artwork to illustrate what Mountbatten have thought when he came up with the idea.[34] However, Wee also intended the pink to represent Mountbatten's lifestyle, adding "I hope [commuters] get the humour. I hope they understand I'm paying homage to someone but I'm also making fun of the person".[35]
Wee originally intended to photograph a ship from the Singapore Navy, but was asked by the Art Review Panel to photograph regular boats over security concerns. Wee rented a boat from Tanjong Rhu and photographed nearby parked container boats.[36] The artwork was originally intended to be installed at the station platform, but Wee and the CCL artworks curator convinced the LTA to move it to the aforementioned corridor, as they felt that the artwork is better experienced in a narrow environment as the pink's intensity combined with the corridor's lighting would create a pink light.[33] The LTA initially intended to print the artwork on vitreous enamel panels, but they discovered that the pink in the artwork would turn brown after heating the panels to 820°C. The temperature had to be reduced to achieve the colour, but this made the panels scratchable. The artwork was instead printed and installed behind laminated glass panels.[35]
Zhuang, Justin; Mead, Andrew; Koh, Hui Ting (2013). Art In Transit: Circle Line MRT — Singapore. Singapore: Land Transport Authority. pp.105–107. ISBN9789810749828.
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