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More stations of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) are expected to be operational later this year, Minister for Transport S. Iswaran announced in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar. 9).

In August 2021, six new stations opened as part of phase two of the TEL, connecting to the TEL phase one stations: Woodlands North, Woodlands and Woodlands South.

11 more TEL stations expected to open later this year

The current TEL stations that are operational are: Woodlands North, Woodlands, Woodlands South, Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson, and Caldecott.

In his Committee of Supply speech, Iswaran announced that 11 more TEL stations are expected to commence service in the second half of 2022.

With the new stations, residents living in the north will be directly connected to many destinations in the city and travel times will be significantly shortened, he said.

Specifically, people living or working near stations such as Great World, Maxwell, and Shenton Way will have direct connections to the rest of the MRT network.

Once the TEL is fully opened over the next few years, Iswaran said, more than 240,000 households will be within a 10-minute walk from a TEL station.

Updates on Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line

Iswaran also gave updates on two other upcoming MRT lines: Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line.

The Jurong Region Line (JRL) will be the seventh MRT line in the country, and will open in stages from 2027.

The JRL will serve the northwestern part of Singapore, connecting towns such as Chua Chu Kang, Tengah, and Jurong to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Jurong Innovation District, Iswaran announced.

The Cross Island Line (CRL) will be Singapore's eighth MRT line, and will open in stages from 2030.

The first stage will comprise 12 stations from Aviation Park to Bright Hill, and include a three-station extension from Elias to Punggol.

The second stage of the CRL, Iswaran announced, will extend further west, running through areas like Turf City, Sunset Way, Clementi, West Coast, and Jurong Lake District.

"The Cross Island Line will have interchanges with all the radial lines, giving commuters more travel route options," he said.

More details will be released later this year.

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Top photo via LTA.