Circle Line opens with 5 stations

THE Circle Line was launched yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, at the Bishan station.

However, only five of the 29 stations – namely Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount – will be operational.

Estimated daily ridership will be about 55,000 and will rise to 500,000 when the remaining 24 stations open.

The Land and Transport Authority (LTA) declined to give any dates for the opening of the remaining stations except that ‘the rest of the Circle Line will open progressively from next year onwards’.

Currently, tunnelling work is about 98 per cent complete and will be fully completed by September this year. Transport Minister Raymond Lim also reassured the media that the ongoing work is ‘on track’.

With just five stations in operation, Saw Phaik Hwa, president and CEO of SMRT Corp, does not expect the Circle Line to be profit-generating yet. However, she said that the main focus would be to promote the line and familiarise the public with the line.

Ms Saw also thinks that it is inevitable that ridership on all other lines will be affected by the opening of the Circle Line, which is expected to shorten travelling time between several stations on the current lines. As a result, Ms Saw predicts that average fare per journey should fall.

However, she also believes that the Circle Line will attract new commuters from areas that were previously not served by any train lines – namely the catchment areas.

When asked if the company has plans to add retail space to the Circle Line stations, Ms Saw told BT that most of the Circle Line stations may not be large enough to accommodate retailers.

She did, however, single out the Buona Vista station – which is not yet operational – and stations around the Bugis and Suntec areas as possible sites for retail.

Mr Teo, who is also Defence Minister, said: ‘From now until 2020, the government will spend more than $40 billion to double the length of the rail network. There will be new lines or sections of new lines opening every other year.’

Source : Business Times – 28 May 2009