The line was first announced by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on 15 August 2014, merging the previously planned and distinct Thomson (TSL) and Eastern Region (ERL) lines. By then, construction of the TSL had already begun in January 2014. The line is being opened in stages, beginning with Stage 1[b] on 31 January 2020. Stage 2[c] opened on 28 August 2021 and Stage 3[d] opened on 13 November 2022. Stage 4[e] opened on 23 June 2024 while Stage 5[f] is scheduled to open from the second half of 2026. Meanwhile, Mount Pleasant and Marina South stations, which were structurally completed as part of Stage 3, remain non-operational due to the perceived lack of developments in the area at this given time.
In January 2019, an infill station known as Founders' Memorial was announced to complement its namesake, with its opening planned for 2027. In addition, LTA also confirmed the integration of the Changi Airport Branch, which is currently part of the East West Line (EWL), into the TEL. When fully opened, it is expected to serve about 500,000 commuters daily in the initial years before rising to one million in the long-term. It is the fourth MRT line to be operated by SMRT Trains Ltd and also the fourth to be completely automated and driverless. The line is currently served by Mandai Depot, with the East Coast Integrated Depot opening in the second half of 2026, and services are operated by the T251electric multiple unit (EMU) rolling stock manufuactured by Kawasaki–CRRC.[6]
New and improved signage was introduced to alI stations along the TEL, which saw less text and wordiness, and more illustrations and visualisations. Moreover, ever since the TEL began operations, all the other MRT lines on the wider network have since been represented by their initials. In addition, the exits are represented numerically rather than alphabetically.[7]
The Thomson Line (TSL) was first announced on 25 January 2008. Several architectural and engineering consultancy packages were released in 2010 which indicated an increase in the number of stations from 18 in the initial announcement to the current 22 and length of the line from 27 to 30km (17 to 19mi).[8]
On 16 June 2011, LTA announced the location of the depot for the line, which was due to begin construction at the end of 2012. It also announced Woodlands as an interchange with the existing North South Line and an additional station located near to Republic Polytechnic.[9]
On 29 August 2012, it was announced that the completion of the TSL was pushed back to 2019 onwards instead of the indicative timeline of 2018 announced in the Land Transport Masterplan.[10]
Construction of the TSL began in January 2014.[11] The groundbreaking ceremony took place on 27 June that year at Woodlands. All the working station names were confirmed as the final names except for Sin Ming station which was changed to Bright Hill.[12]
The Eastern Region Line was first announced on 23 October 2001.[13] In its preliminary plans, ERL was to have been a 40kilometre rectangular loop that would complement the existing East West line and enhance inter- and intra-town travelling in the eastern region. It would have looped around the Jalan Besar and East Coast areas, intersecting the Circle Line and other lines along the way, benefiting residents in Tampines, Bedok, Marine Parade, MacPherson and Kaki Bukit.[14] The northern part of Eastern Region Line became the third stage of the Downtown Line. The southern part of the Eastern Region Line became the East Coast stretch of the Thomson-East Coast line. Sungei Bedok would become an interchange between the Downtown and the Thomson-East Coast lines.
On 11 July 2012, Josephine Teo, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport, announced that the Land Transport Authority is starting architectural and engineering consultancy studies for the Eastern Region Line, which will eventually connect to the Thomson Line.[15]
The director of rail services from LTA, Melvyn Thong, said on 29 May 2013 at the Modern Railways conference that there are plans to extend the Eastern Region Line to the future Changi Airport Terminal 4 which was at that time, set to be ready by 2017[16] but on 1 June that year, the Land Transport Authority clarified that the Eastern Region Line will not provide an MRT link to the planned Terminal 4.[17] On 30 August that year, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo unveiled plans that it will be linked to the future Changi Airport Terminal 5, a mega terminal, which will be the largest terminal in Singapore upon completion in the 2030s.[18]
Merging of Eastern Region Line and Thomson Line
The Eastern Region Line was merged with the Thomson Line on 15 August 2014 to form the Thomson–East Coast Line, extending the project from three to five stages, with nine more stations.[19]
The groundbreaking ceremony for the East Coast stretch took place at Marine Parade on 21 July 2016. All the working station names, including Xilin on the Downtown Line extension, were confirmed as the final names except for Amber station which was changed to Tanjong Katong. The authorities are also considering extending the Thomson–East Coast line to all terminals at Changi Airport, including the upcoming Terminal 5, announced Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan.[20][21]
Line operations
SMRT Trains Ltd was appointed as the operator of the line on 15 September 2017.[22]
On 28 August 2019, the Land Transport Authority awarded several non-fare businesses along the line, with Asiaray Connect awarded an advertising contract and a consortium, made up of SMRT Experience, JR Business Development SEA and Alphaplus Investments appointed to run retail space. This is the first time the LTA outsourced these non-fare businesses.[23]
On 19 September 2019, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed that the opening of the first stage of the Thomson–East Coast Line from Woodlands North to Woodlands South stations was delayed to January 2020 from the indicative time of 2019 announced earlier,[24] subsequently confirmed as 31 January 2020. Self-assistance kiosks were installed at all TEL MRT stations and will be rolled out to all stations.[25][26]
On 11 January 2020, SMRT and LTA hosted an open house for the first stage of the line, with the stage opening for revenue service on 31 January 2020.[27]
The opening of the second stage was initially delayed to the first quarter of 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemiccircuit breaker period; the project was subsequently further delayed to the third quarter of 2021.[28][29][30]
On 30 April 2021, LTA handed over Stage 2 stations along the line to SMRT to get the section ready for operations.[31] On 30 June 2021, Transport Minister S. Iswaran announced that Stage 2 will open on 28 August 2021.[32] LTA announced on 13 August 2021 that there would be a virtual open house held from 23 to 27 August 2021 since all physical open houses were disallowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[33]
On 23 November 2021, LTA announced that Mount Pleasant and Marina South stations will only open when housing developments in these areas are ready, instead of opening as part of Stage 3.[35] On 9 March 2022, Transport Minister S Iswaran announced in Parliament that TEL 3 would open in the 2nd half of 2022.[36]
On 17 August 2022, LTA handed over Stage 3 stations along the line to SMRT to get the section ready for operations by the end of 2022.[37][38]
On 7 October 2022, during a visit to the Outram Park and Maxwell TEL stations, Transport Minister S. Iswaran announced that the third stage of the line will commence operations on 13 November 2022.[39][40][41]
On 13 December 2023, LTA announced that it would hand over Stage 4 stations along the line to SMRT in early 2024, in preparation for the opening of the stations.[42] Acting Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that the authorities hope to open the sector in the first half of that year.[43] The Stage 4 stations were handed over to SMRT on 6 February 2024.[44][45]
On 5 March 2024, LTA announced that Stage 4 would open on 23 June that year.[46] A preview of Stage 4 was held on 21 June, with free rides for all 7 stations, with a free shuttle train running from Gardens by the Bay to Tanjong Rhu to ferry riders to the Stage 4 stations.[47]
On 25 May 2019, LTA confirmed that it will extend the Thomson–East Coast Line from Sungei Bedok to Changi Airport Terminal 5. Construction works to extend the TEL to the existing Changi Airport MRT station, the eastern terminus of the East–West Line Changi Airport branch, commenced in 2020. The stretch of East–West line between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport, known as the Changi Airport Line (CGL), will be converted to form part of the TEL extension.[50][51][52] The extension was expected to begin construction after 2022.[53]
In May 2024, LTA confirmed modification works for the CGL stations will start from 2025 after the contract for addition and alteration works is awarded.[54] In July 2025, a contract worth S$94.3 mil was awarded to Chiu Teng Construction for the modification of the CGL stations to be integrated with the TEL.[55] That same month, the alignment of the TEL extension was unveiled.[56]Alstom was awarded the contract for the conversion of the CGL signalling system to match the TEL's Urbalis 400 CBTC system the following month.[5]
Route
Geographically accurate map of the Thomson–East Coast MRT line.
After Bright Hill station, the line curves south towards Caldecott station before curving west passing the unopened Mount Pleasant towards Stevens station, which it has an interchange with the Downtown line. From Napier station, the line heads east towards Orchard station, also interchanging with the North-South line. It continues heading south between Orchard and Havelock stations, cutting underneath the Singapore River before heading south-east towards Outram Park station, which has an interchange with the East-West and North-East lines.[41]
It then enters the Downtown Core, by heading in a south-east direction towards Marina Bay station, which has an interchange with the North-South and Circle lines. The line then heads north-east towards Gardens by the Bay, passing underneath the Kallang Basin, before heading north passing Founders’ Memorial station, which is scheduled to be opened in 2028. It then curves eastwards between Tanjong Rhu and Bayshore stations, paralleling Marine Parade Road. By 2H 2026, the line will continue east towards Sungei Bedok, the future terminus with which it will have an interchange with the Downtown line.[20]
All Thomson-East Coast Line stations began to have top-up kiosks that only accepts cashless payments whereas there is only one general ticketing machine (GTM) in each station. With the removal of single-trip tickets, all remaining GTM machines were replaced by TUK-A. Commuters can still top up at the minimum of $2 for School Smartcard, ITE Student card and Diploma Student card, $5 for persons with disabilities and $10 for adults and Passion Silver using cash. E-payment top-ups remains unchanged at the minimum $5 for students and $10 for adults.[77]
Public transport journeys were paid using MasterCard, NETS, VISA, American Express, CEPAS 3.0 EZ-Link, CEPAS 3.0 Concession, NETS Prepaid and the early CEPAS versions (utilising Card-Based Ticketing (CBT)) of EZ-Link, Concession and NETS stored-value cards (commonly known as NETS FlashPay). As a result, SimplyGo is there for any travel, card and fare enquiries.
Rolling stock
Kawasaki–CRRC Qingdao Sifang T251 at Woodlands station.
The first generation of rolling stock being introduced onto the Thomson–East Coast Line is the T251, built by Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries and China's CRRC Qingdao Sifang in Qingdao, China. The trains are built with 5 doors per side per car, which is the very first in Singapore to have this configuration. They are also completely automated and driverless. The trains are housed at the Mandai Depot and the future East Coast Integrated Depot (shared with the Downtown and the East West lines).[78]
↑ Journal, Tunnelling (18 October 2013). "LTA awards four Thomson contracts". The Tunnelling Journal-GB. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
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