The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will look at the feasibility of building a new rail line that will serve Singapore’s north and northeastern regions. The line could cover areas like Woodlands, Sengkang, Sembawang, Serangoon North, Kallang, Whampoa and the Greater Southern Waterfront.
In its Land Transport Master Plan 2040 (LTMP 2040), LTA noted that the new rail line would supplement the transport network within those areas to serve new developments as well as existing towns with no direct access to the rail network.
LTA added that the feasibility study will assess issues such as station locations, demand and the development timeline for the new line. It will also consider future and existing land use developments along the corridor.
“When completed in phases, the line could serve more than 400,000 households, with commuters in the northern region of Singapore enjoying time savings of up to 40 minutes to the city centre,” it said.
LTA believes that the new line could relieve the growing travel demand in the northeast corridor as well as strengthen the MRT network’s overall resilience.
“This would help to make rail a faster, more convenient and reliable transport option for more Singaporeans,” said LTA.
To start shortly, the feasibility study could take up to two years to complete.
Meanwhile, one of LTMP 2040’s goal is to ensure a “45-minute city with 20-minute towns”, which implies that commuters would only need 45 minutes to get to work and 20 minutes to get to amenities in residential towns.
Key to realizing this goal is the creation of more regional employment centres –bringing jobs closer to homes. Examples of such areas are the Jurong Lake District, Punggol Digital District, Woodlands Regional Centre and Jurong Innovation District.
To ensure their accessibility and connectivity, the employment centres will be supported by other transport initiatives, such as having more “Transit Priority Corridors” (TPCs) that are dedicated cycling paths and bus lanes.
Aside from TPCs, rail enhancements such as train line extensions will also link to these new workplaces.
Another way of achieving the “45-minute city with 20-minute towns” goal is by having more Walk-Cycle-Ride transport facilities, said LTA.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
