MRT Eastern Region Line (ERL)

[Mith252]

I think ERL would take a slightly longer time to reveal. They still need to finalise TSL first before they can finalise the ERL stations.

[y2koh]

Just to add on to the effect of the existing seawalls to the construction challenges of underground infrastructure. My friend told me that contractors is currently digging up ponds in Marina Bay to help dislodge the rocks used for the seawall, to "fish" them out. Imagine tiding that for the entire stretch of ERL...

[mrtfreak]

Originally Posted by mdzulkar9

like that's so much better, selo. haha.

I believe he missed your point.

Originally Posted by y2koh

Just to add on to the effect of the existing seawalls to the construction challenges of underground infrastructure. My friend told me that contractors is currently digging up ponds in Marina Bay to help dislodge the rocks used for the seawall, to "fish" them out. Imagine tiding that for the entire stretch of ERL...

And hence why LTA is finding the alignment challenging. I guess it really depends? Would they still face the sea-wall challenge if they made sure that they only crossed it at certain points and kept to the reclaimed or old land for large stretches of the line?

[y2koh]

The problem is that the east coast seawall is not a straight line. Based on the historical shoreline, some parts are actually very crooked.

[deskoh91]

if they can retrieve past records of reclamation they can still make the best of the situation. I shudder to think what will happen if there are actually no records back then. they will probably spend a good year and a half spent simply doing soil testing.

it seems unlike Nicoll Highway, there isnt a strip of greenery along most of east coast reclamation?

[ddes]

Or they could simply just elevate the line.

[MuziHealth]

I believe one station between Parkway and the community club, will serve this "almost downtown area.". Another one further up near Siglap will make sense also. There is a group of low rise shops there, plus housing.
Muzihealth

[y2koh]

Welcome to the forums Muzihealth!

Yes I think so too. Actually I will expect the first station you mentioned to be closer to Parkway Parade than Marine Parade CC. A station at Siglap Road is highly probable too. The distance between Parkway and Siglap Road is 2.6km, so I believe that there will also be another station in between.

[nononsense2011]

Have there been any recent SI sightings of late? Anyone?

[gunbound888]

By the way, understand that Katong Village (beside the new 112 Katong Mall) have been re-acquired back and have been designated for commercial/hotel development. Not sure part of the land may be used for the Marine Parade MRT..

[nononsense2011]

Originally Posted by gunbound888

By the way, understand that Katong Village (beside the new 112 Katong Mall) have been re-acquired back and have been designated for commercial/hotel development. Not sure part of the land may be used for the Marine Parade MRT..

Did you see any soil investigation works there?

[gunbound888]

HI,

Not sure how soil investigation work looks like thus unable to comment...

[y2koh]

It looks like this...

Originally Posted by y2koh

Untitled by y2koh, on Flickr

Let us know if you see the rigs (they look like mini oil rigs). Greatly appreciated.

[eX.A.K.R.]

Hey guys, I'm back.

Anyway, I went to the Lee Kong Chian reference library this afternoon to flip through that book on the construction of the original MRT system again, and while reading up on how they decided which sections should be above or below ground, one thing caught my eye.

Apparently, way back then they have already planned for the North-South Line to be extended beyond Marina Bay in the future if necessary; they had the option to take that part above ground, but kept it underground anyway for the benefit of flexibility for future (i.e. today's) city planners. In it they mentioned the possibility of extending the line towards Marina East, either via an underwater tunnel (likely now given how things are turning out) or via a road/rail bridge (unlikely today). Suddenly, an idea hit me...

What if, instead of being a whole new line on its own, the Eastern Region Line was built as an extension of the North-South Line?

I know it sounds crazy, but it might work. They might even be able to link up the eastern end with the Changi Airport extension, turning the whole North-South/East-West MRT system into something that looks like a slanted figure-8 loop with tail branches on the map. It could also help pave the way for a dedicated express rail service that can re-use already-existing infrastructure.

Even if they build the Eastern Region Line as a separate line, the North-South Line could still be extended from there and co-run alongside the Eastern Region Line as a dedicated express rail service. The service could terminate at Marina South Pier or Marina Bay, either reusing the existing platforms and using the track switches to turn around, or they could built new tunnels and platforms running alongside the North-South Line between Marina South Pier and Marina Bay, with the rail service terminating at the latter, and having the rail service hook up with the Changi Airport branch line, terminating at Tanah Merah at the other end. Fares for this service could be higher than usual, and separate fare control can be installed at Marina Bay and Marina South Pier, while new fare gates on the platform at Tanah Merah could control access to the express service there and accordingly deduct the correct fare according to the travel pattern detected. Traveling to or from Expo or Changi Airport via Tanah Merah could entail normal fare, but traveling direct, bypassing Tanah Merah, towards the airport or Expo from the Marina Bay area, or towards the Marina Bay area via Tanah Merah, and the system accordingly detects and deducts the correct express fare.

Another idea could be to extend the North-South Line and have it terminate and interchange with the Eastern Region Line somewhere around the Fort Road area, possibly with a cross-platform interchange. As I understand, there was a plan to extend the line to Marina Barrage as well, but it was cut back to only Marina South Pier. Perhaps when the golf course at Marina East moves out, and the area becomes more developed, such an extension could become likely. It could also provide additional interchange options for the under-connected Eastern Region Line - commuters traveling from the east can travel more directly to Marina Barrage or the cruise centre, bypassing the Tanjong Rhu area.

[ddes]

Good to see you again.

Yes, the idea of extending the North South Line eastwards isn't a novel idea. In fact, the most recent iteration of it was the Concept Plan 2001 which saw it extended into a fatter, reclaimed Marina East and onwards to Long Island. However, the concept seems to have been abandoned when LTA extended the North South Line southwards by a single station instead of the rumored two, which might speak about the fate of the NSL-East idea.

I am concerned about the disparity and catchment along the east coast versus the rest of the NSL route. Say what you want about the crowds, but it is ironically because of the even distribution of crowds along the NSL that there is no longer a case for short service trips to Yew Tee or Yishun. When you have such crowd disparity, the supply has to meet the demand, which means it is only reasonable that the eastern route sees an appropriate drop in frequencies as compared to the current NSL. Worse still if you want to run the NSL alongside the EWL.

Unpopular opinion alert, but I really do think express lines are immature for a system that is not well developed yet. Heck, Seoul's a spaghetti, and they're only just started talking about express lines.

[Seloloving]

Originally Posted by eX.A.K.R.

What if, instead of being a whole new line on its own, the Eastern Region Line was built as an extension of the North-South Line?

I know it sounds crazy, but it might work. They might even be able to link up the eastern end with the Changi Airport extension, turning the whole North-South/East-West MRT system into something that looks like a slanted figure-8 loop with tail branches on the map.

http://homepage.mac.com/voyager/images/somapah.gif

I highly doubt it was meant to extend onwards from NSL. Marina South Pier terminates at an rather awkward dead end. But the plans do show that ERL was meant to link up to CGL in older plans.

In addition, Changi Airport station seems to be situated at a completely different location.

[deskoh91]

If anything I think building a set of parallel tracks for express services during the construction of ERL is better than extending old and heavily used infrastructure. Existing stations must be modified to accommodate new platforms anyway. The current NSL orientation also makes an extension unnecessarily loopy.

I agree it's a little early to talk about express rail though. We should explore the possibility of truly express cross country bus services that runs regularly with the revision to bus financing frameworks and more buses coming in to offer an alternative to trains, much like 161/168 but from West to East or northeast.

[profkingsfield2004]

Hi

wats the title of that MRT book u read?

wat u said about expendting NS line beyond Marina Pier makes sense bcos there's plans for one near Marina Barrage. TO carry on towards Chani not too far-fetched.

Originally Posted by eX.A.K.R.

Hey guys, I'm back.

Anyway, I went to the Lee Kong Chian reference library this afternoon to flip through that book on the construction of the original MRT system again, and while reading up on how they decided which sections should be above or below ground, one thing caught my eye.

Apparently, way back then they have already planned for the North-South Line to be extended beyond Marina Bay in the future if necessary; they had the option to take that part above ground, but kept it underground anyway for the benefit of flexibility for future (i.e. today's) city planners. In it they mentioned the possibility of extending the line towards Marina East, either via an underwater tunnel (likely now given how things are turning out) or via a road/rail bridge (unlikely today). Suddenly, an idea hit me...

What if, instead of being a whole new line on its own, the Eastern Region Line was built as an extension of the North-South Line?

I know it sounds crazy, but it might work. They might even be able to link up the eastern end with the Changi Airport extension, turning the whole North-South/East-West MRT system into something that looks like a slanted figure-8 loop with tail branches on the map. It could also help pave the way for a dedicated express rail service that can re-use already-existing infrastructure.

Even if they build the Eastern Region Line as a separate line, the North-South Line could still be extended from there and co-run alongside the Eastern Region Line as a dedicated express rail service. The service could terminate at Marina South Pier or Marina Bay, either reusing the existing platforms and using the track switches to turn around, or they could built new tunnels and platforms running alongside the North-South Line between Marina South Pier and Marina Bay, with the rail service terminating at the latter, and having the rail service hook up with the Changi Airport branch line, terminating at Tanah Merah at the other end. Fares for this service could be higher than usual, and separate fare control can be installed at Marina Bay and Marina South Pier, while new fare gates on the platform at Tanah Merah could control access to the express service there and accordingly deduct the correct fare according to the travel pattern detected. Traveling to or from Expo or Changi Airport via Tanah Merah could entail normal fare, but traveling direct, bypassing Tanah Merah, towards the airport or Expo from the Marina Bay area, or towards the Marina Bay area via Tanah Merah, and the system accordingly detects and deducts the correct express fare.

Another idea could be to extend the North-South Line and have it terminate and interchange with the Eastern Region Line somewhere around the Fort Road area, possibly with a cross-platform interchange. As I understand, there was a plan to extend the line to Marina Barrage as well, but it was cut back to only Marina South Pier. Perhaps when the golf course at Marina East moves out, and the area becomes more developed, such an extension could become likely. It could also provide additional interchange options for the under-connected Eastern Region Line - commuters traveling from the east can travel more directly to Marina Barrage or the cruise centre, bypassing the Tanjong Rhu area.

[eX.A.K.R.]

Originally Posted by profkingsfield2004

Hi

wats the title of that MRT book u read?

wat u said about expendting NS line beyond Marina Pier makes sense bcos there's plans for one near Marina Barrage. TO carry on towards Chani not too far-fetched.

The book is called The MRT Conference 1987 if I remember correctly. It's a huge, grey book with a featureless spine and a picture of the original C151 train in front.

[mrtfreak]

Just found some info regarding TSL and ERL. Hold your breath everyone!

Construction of two new lines is expected to commence between 2014 and 2017. These are the Eastern Region Line and the Thomson Line.

http://www.citymayors.com/transport/...ore-metro.html

We know TSL is due first, so likely that the 2014 date is meant for the Thomson Line. That leaves the 2017 date for the ERL, which is pretty good timing as they can mobilise the DTL2 crew to work on the line having finished in 2015. Similarly, the DTL1 crew can be mobilised for TSL.

Future prosperity will depend on delivery of the similar sum allocated for the building of the two new lines and some smaller connecting schemes in the years from 2015 to 2024.

We know ERL is the last project due for now. So I would take it that 2024 refers to ERL. Should come as no surprise as LTA has been finding the route challenging as per the last time we had an update on it (bar the brief mention at DTL3 tunneling commencement).