Before the National Day Rally Speech, LTA announced that there will be a new MRT line that runs parallel to the current East-West line. Is this a good thing for the people staying around this area? Would their properties increase in value when the train stations are up?

Looking at the stations, I think the ones gaining the most benefits would be  residents staying in Tanjong Rhu and Marine Parade area.

Tanjong Rhu

Currently, there are only 2 buses that travel into this quiet and peaceful place of Singapore. Most of the residents who stay there drive, and those who don’t, always complain about the long waiting time for buses and taxi. The situation becomes worse when it rains.  But despite all these accessibility challenges, it’s still a very popular place for expats (Esp. Professional Indians and British) who likes the unblock Kallang River view, City view and Parks. This is the only place in Singapore where you can jog and admire the Marina Bay Sands, Flyer and sky scrappers etc from a distance. With a new station coming up, I believe Tanjong Rhu would become an exciting place to live in/to invest.

Marine Parade

Marine Parade has always been well-connected by buses to many different parts in Singapore. I have many clients(/Tenants) who choose to stay in Marine Parade because of the East Coast Beach and the good network of buses. It’s well-connected by buses to Serangoon, Raffles Place, City Hall, Paya Lebar, Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio etc. The only downside is that because there are no other options than buses and taxi, during the  peak hour (morning & evening), buses to Raflles Place (CBD area) are always packed full of people. Some have to wait for a few buses in order to get up, some prefer to squeeze their way up and hold their breathe until they reach Raffles Place. During weekends, Marine Parade Bus-stop (in front of the OCBC) is always full of people waiting to get up buses to get to the nearest train station (Paya Lebar, Dakota, Serangoon etc). With a new station, I think many of the residents will definitely benefit from it, travelling to work or coming to East Coast beach during the weekends. Marine Parade HDB has always been selling at a premium price compared to other areas because of the Sea View and location. With a new station, I think the HDB and private condos value will increase even more than other stations along the Marina South to Sungei Bedok line.

Singapore MRT Map

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Commuters in the east will soon have more MRT links to the city and the northern parts of Singapore with the new Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).

The eastern stretch of the TEL will have nine stations running from Sungei Bedok to Tanjong Rhu. The line will then connect northwards to 22 other stations. The stations along the northern stretch were announced earlier under the Thomson Line.

The Land Transport Authority announced on Friday the station locations along the eastern stretch, or what was originally referred to as the Eastern Region Line.

The 13km eastern stretch will run through the neighbourhoods of Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Amber, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap, Bayshore, Bedok South and Sungei Bedok. The first seven stations, from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore, will be ready in 2023. The stations in Bedok South and Sungei Bedok will be ready in 2024.

When the 43km-long TEL is completed in 2024, a trip from East Coast Park to Orchard is expected to take just 45 minutes, compared to 75 minutes. Commuters travelling from Marine Parade to the Central Business District will halve their travel time from 40 minutes to 20 minutes.

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew announced these details on Friday at a visit to the Marina South Pier station, which is part of the North-South Line and will be opened by the end of the year. He said the eastern section of the TEL is expected to cost $6.8 billion, bringing the total budgeted cost of the TEL to about $24 billion.

The TEL will also connect with the upcoming Downtown Line which will have a new extension consisting of the Xilin station and the Sungei Bedok interchange station. This is to improve public transport accessibility to the Changi Business Park and Expo areas, he said.

The 31 stations of the TEL are expected to serve about half a million commuters daily in the initial years and twice that in the long term. To make way for the construction of the eastern stretch of the line however, six landed properties along Amber Road and a three-storey apartment along Tanjong Katong Road will be acquired.

The world’s first four-in-one train and bus depot will also be built with the TEL. It will house buses and trains for the TEL, East-West Line and Downtown Line. The 36ha depot can house about 220 trains and 550 buses and integrating the depot for both buses and trains will help to save close to 60 football fields of land space.

Tenders for the new Line will be put out next year and construction is expected to start in 2016.

Source : The StraitsTime Singapore

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