East West Line

The East West Line (EWL) is the second (Mass Rapid Transit) MRT lines in Singapore. The line is currently 57.2 km long with 35 stations, including four more to be constructed by 2016, known as Tuas West Extension (TWE), making it the longest MRT line in Singapore. It takes about 63 minutes to travel from one end to the other. The line is coloured  green  on MRT system maps. It is maintained by SMRT .

As its name implies, the line connects central Singapore to both eastern and western parts of the island, with an additional branch to Changi Airport from Tanah Merah. Cross-platform interchange with the North South Line is provided at Jurong East, City Hall and Raffles Place, while transfer to the North East Line at Outram Park is possible via a linkway. Transfer to the Circle Line is also possible at Paya Lebar and Buona Vista via underpass and linkway. Developments involving the line include the Tuas West Extension (TWE), a four-station extension from Joo Koon, and the Downtown Line which will interchange with the East West Line at Bugis, Tampines and Expo.



Initial system
12 December 1987: City Hall – Outram Park

12 March 1988: Outram Park – Clementi

5 November 1988: Clementi – Lakeside

4 November 1989: City Hall – Tanah Merah (start of the separation of the North South Line from the East West Line)

16 December 1989: Tanah Merah – Pasir Ris

10 March 1990: Jurong East – Choa Chu Kang (initially operated as the Choa Chu Kang branch of the East West Line, became part of the North South Line on 10 February 1996 upon completion of the Woodlands Extension)

6 July 1990: Lakeside – Boon Lay

Second phase of development
10 January 2001: Tanah Merah – Expo

18 October 2001: Dover (Station added on operational line)

8 February 2002: Expo – Changi Airport

Boon Lay Extension (BLE)
Operational and running through Boon Lay to Joo Koon.

28 February 2009: Boon Lay – Joo Koon

Tuas West Extension (TWE)
On 11 January 2011, the Tuas West Extension was announced. It is an extension of the East West Line from Joo Koon to Tuas Link. The stations — Gul Circle, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West Road and Tuas Link — will extend MRT connectivity to the Tuas area and is expected to serve more than 100,000 commuters daily.

Commuters to the Tuas area can also look forward to savings in travelling time of up to 35 minutes. When completed in 2016, the Tuas West Extension will be an extension of the East West Line from Joo Koon, consisting of a 7.5 km long twin-tracked MRT viaduct, four aboveground stations and a depot. The MRT viaduct is also integrated with part of a 4.8 km long road viaduct along Pioneer Road, which will increase the road capacity to cope with anticipated increase in traffic. A 26-hectare depot will also be built to provide stabling and maintenance facilities for the additional 35 North South East West Line trains that will be bought for the Extension and to cater for future expansion of the NSEWL. The depot will be able to stable up to 60 trains.

<p class="MsoNormal">On 7 March 2012, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Lui Tuck Yew told Parliament that, in conjunction with Tuas West Extension, a much larger depot will be built by 2016 to house the additional trains needed to enhance the capacity of the North South and East West Lines.

<p class="MsoNormal">On 4 May 2012, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) marked the start of construction of the Tuas West Extension with a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future Tuas Link station. The ceremony was graced by the Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Lui Tuck Yew.

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Half-height platform screen doors
<p class="MsoNormal">With incidents of passengers falling into tracks and being hit-and-run by trains, the government announced plans to install half-height platform screen doors (HHPSDs) in a speech on 25 January 2008, citing lower costs due to its becoming a more common feature worldwide but once rejected. The HHPSDs were first installed on the platforms of Jurong East station (original platforms), Pasir Ris station and Yishun station in 2009 as trials and all other elevated stations (together with Jurong East station for JEMP platforms) will have platform screen doors installed eventually. On 7 March 2012, Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew told Parliament that all remaining elevated stations on NSEWL would be fitted with HHPSDs by March 2012. A preliminary implementation plan for railway noise mitigation would be developed by 3rd Quarter 2012. By 31 August 2011, all above-ground stations on the East West Line, including Expo on Changi Airport Branch Line (CAL), had operational HHPSDs.

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