East Coast Line contract rollout in Singapore 01 Jun 2016

Contract rollout by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) continues for the 13km all-underground East Coast extension of the 30km Thomson Line, now collectively known as the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL).

Construction of Bedok South station and associated tunnels is awarded to China Jingye Engineering Corporation Limited (Singapore Branch), for a contract sum of S$188 million. CJEC is a subsidiary of the Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd (MCC Group), one of the largest construction corporations in China.

Meanwhile, Amber station is awarded to Woh Hup Limited for a contract sum of S$146 million. Established in 1927, Woh Hup (Private) Limited is one of Singapore’s leading construction and civil engineering specialists with more than 80 years of experience in the construction industry. The company has previously been involved in several Circle Line (CCL) projects including the construction of Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah, Holland Village and Buona Vista stations. 

Earlier awards (April 2016)

Construction of East Coast Integrated Depot and its reception tunnels – one of the largest single contracts in LTA history – is awarded to GS Engineering & Construction (Korea) for a contract sum of S$1.99 billion. The depot will be the first in the world to integrate three train depots and a bus depot on a single site.

Fig 1. 43km Thomson–East Coast Line alignment

The train depots – which will serve the East-West Line (EWL), the Downtown Line (DTL) and the under construction all-underground 43km Thomson East Coast Line (TEL) – will be stacked on the 36 hectare site, providing capacity for 220 trains. This underground stacking solution will save Singapore 44 hectares of land that would otherwise have been required.

Siglap station is awarded to the John Holland (Australia)/ Zhen Hua Engineering (Singapore) Joint Venture for a contract sum of S$176 million. John Holland, formerly part of the Leighton Group, is now under Chinese control having been acquired in 2014 by the China Communications Construction Company for a price of A$1.15 billion. Its JV partner Zhen Hua is also a subsidiary of CCCC.

John Holland, in joint venture with Leighton, is currently working on the construction of DTL3’s Jalan Besar station and on TEL’s Springleaf station. Zhen Hua is an established contractor with overseas transit experience mainly in China with ongoing projects in Beijing, Qingdao and Guangzhou.

Construction of Bayshore station and its associated tunnels is awarded to the Woh Hup (Singapore)/ Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (Singapore) Joint Venture for a contract sum of S$296 million. Both partners are established contractors in Singapore and have completed several infrastructure and building projects in Singapore and overseas. They were previously involved in the construction of the Singapore Circle Line’s Bras Basah, Buona Vista, Dhoby Ghaut, Esplanade, Holland Village, Kent Ridge, Promenade and Serangoon stations.

Xilin station and its associated tunnels, as well as reception tunnels to the depot, is awarded to Samsung C&T (South Korea) for a contract sum of S$834 million. Samsung was previously involved in the construction of the North-South Line’s Marina South station, DTL1’s Telok Ayer station and the Marina Coastal Expressway. It is currently involved in construction of DTL3’s Expo and Upper Changi stations, as well as TEL’s Caldecott and Marine Parade stations.

Construction works for these latest four civil contracts are expected to start by the second quarter of 2016. Siglap and Bayshore stations are targeted for completion in 2023 while Xilin station and the East Coast Integrated Depot are targeted for completion in 2024.

Earlier awards (January 2016)

Construction of Tanjong Rhu Station and its associated tunnels is awarded to the Bachy Soletanche (France)/Wai Fong Construction (Singapore) Joint Venture for a contract sum of S$294 million. The French company has previously been involved in construction of Bugis and Telok Ayer stations on Downtown Line 1 (DTL1) and is currently involved in construction of the Orchard and Gardens By The Bay stations on the Thomson Line. Wai Fong Construction is currently involved in construction of Mount Pleasant Station on the Thomson Line.

Marine Terrace Station

Katong Park Station

Tanjong Rhu Station

Construction of Katong Park Station and its associated tunnels is awarded to the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company (STEC, China) for a contract sum of S$293 million. It has previously been involved in construction of Promenade Station for DTL1 and Newton Station for DTL2. It is currently involved in construction of the Tuas West Extension – the tunnelled section of DTL3 between Tampines East Station and Upper Changi Station; as well as the Shenton Way Station and the running tunnels between Woodlands Station and Woodlands Avenue 12 for the Thomson Line.

Construction of Marine Terrace Station and its associated tunnels is awarded to the Ssangyong Engineering & Construction (Korea)/Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Korea) Joint Venture for a contract sum of S$361 million. Ssangyong had just completed construction of Rochor and Little India stations for DTL2; while Hyundai is currently involved in construction of MacPherson station for DTL3, having previously worked on several rail projects including the construction of several North East Line (NEL) stations and the NEL depot.

The first civil contract of the East Coast program, for construction of Marine Parade Station and associated tunnels, was awarded in November (2015) to Samsung C&T (Korea) for a contract sum of S$555 million.

The East Coast stretch of the TEL – which extends the 30km all-underground north–south Thomson Line and for which all civil contracts are currently in construction – will connect commuters living in the eastern parts of Singapore and who are not currently served directly by the rail network, into the heart of the city.

As part of the 43km-long TEL, the 13km East Coast stretch – which will be completed in two stages – will have nine stations, including one that interchanges with the Downtown Line at Sungei Bedok.

The first seven stations from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore are scheduled to be completed in 2023, with the remaining two stations to be completed in 2024.