Wikipedia

Upper Thomson MRT station

Upper Thomson MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Thomson–East Coast line (TEL) in Thomson, Singapore. As the name suggests, it is located along Upper Thomson Road. The five entrances of the station serve various developments such as Soo Chow Estate, Thomson Plaza and the Church of the Holy Spirit.

 TE8 
Upper Thomson
汤申路上段[1]
அப்பர் தாம்சன்
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station
View of the station platform
General information
Location1 Jalan Keli
Singapore 577937[2]
Coordinates1°21′15″N 103°50′00″E / 1.3542°N 103.8332°E / 1.3542; 103.8332
Owned byLand Transport Authority
Operated bySMRT Trains Ltd (SMRT Corporation)
Line(s)
  Thomson–East Coast Line
Platforms2 (1 island platform)
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Platform levels1
AccessibleYes
History
Opened28 August 2021; 3 years ago (2021-08-28)
ElectrifiedYes
Previous namesThomson Village, Thomson Park[3][4]
Passengers
June 20248,878 per day[5]
Services
Preceding station Mass Rapid Transit Following station
Bright Hill
towards Woodlands North
 Thomson–East Coast Line Caldecott
towards Bayshore
Location
Singapore MRT/LRT system map
Singapore MRT/LRT system map
Upper Thomson
Upper Thomson station in Singapore

First announced in August 2012 as part of the Thomson line (TSL), the station was constructed as part of TEL Phase 2 (TEL2) with the merger of the TSL and the Eastern Region line (ERL). The station's construction required multiple traffic diversions along Upper Thomson Road along with a canal. Opening on 28 August 2021 along with the TEL2 stations, Upper Thomson station features Lost In Our (Concrete) Jungle by Troy Chin as part of the Art-in-Transit programme.

History

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Construction site of the station
 
Exit 1 located close to Thomson Plaza

Upper Thomson station was first announced as part of the 22-station Thomson line on 29 August 2012.[6][7] In November 2013, the contract for the station's construction was awarded to Sato Kogyo (S) Pte. Ltd. The S$374 million (US$298.9 million) contract included building the associated tunnels. The station's construction began in 2014, with a scheduled completion of 2020.[8]

On 15 August 2014, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that TSL would merge with the ERL to form the TEL. Upper Thomson station, being part of the proposed line, would be constructed as part of TEL2, which consists of six stations between Springleaf and Caldecott.[9][10]

The road above the station, Upper Thomson Road, had to be diverted through seven stages,[11] along with utilities and a canal.[12] Barriers were installed to minimise noise pollution, with workers draping noise curtains on heavy machinery. A linkway to one of the station's entrances was constructed using a retractable micro-tunnel boring machine.[13] This machine installed a series of interlocking underground pipes around the passageway,[12] allowing one side of the Upper Thomson Road to remain open as workers excavate the linkway.[13] In order to reduce carbon emissions during construction, the station was built using environmentally-friendly materials.[14]

In December 2016, shops along Upper Thomson Road were affected by a flood, which severely impacted their businesses as their goods were damaged.[15] Through an inspection by the Public Utilities Board (PUB), the contractor, Sato Kogyo, was fined S$14,000 (US$11,000) for altering the draining systems around the station's site without informing the PUB. Fourteen other contractors working on other construction works were also penalised on similar charges.[16]

With the restrictions imposed on construction works due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the TEL2 completion date was pushed to 2021.[17] On 14 December 2020, it was further announced that the opening of TEL 2 was delayed to the third quarter of 2021 so the rail system software for the line could be reviewed.[18][19][20] As announced during a visit by Transport Minister S. Iswaran at Caldecott station on 30 June 2021,[21] the station began operations on 28 August 2021.[22]

Station details

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Upper Thomson station serves the TEL and is between the Bright Hill and Caldecott stations. The official station code is TE8.[23] Being part of the TEL, the station is operated by SMRT Trains.[24] Train frequencies on the TEL range from 3 to 6 minutes.[25] The station has five entrances, serving Soo Chow Estate and various landmarks along Upper Thomson Road, including Thomson Plaza, Church of the Holy Spirit and the LTA office at Sin Ming.[26][27]

The station has a length of 228 metres (748 ft) and a depth of 20 metres (66 ft).[11] The station walls have wave-like motifs that reflects the station's proximity to three reservoirs – MacRitchie Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir and Lower Peirce Reservoir.[28] The station is decorated by 88 animal figures, which are part of the Art-in-Transit artwork Lost in Our (Concrete) Jungle by Troy Chin.[14] The artwork, primarily depicting long-tailed macaques, took inspiration from the nearby Central Catchment Nature Reserve.[28] With the "hide-and-seek" concept adopted for the artwork, Chin intended for his artwork to be enjoyable and "fun" for commuters.[14][28] The number of figures signifies Upper Thomson station being the 88th station involved in the Art-in-Transit programme.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "TSL Station names (Chinese) finalised" (PDF). LTA. 27 June 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Upper Thomson MRT Station (TE8)". OneMap. Singapore Land Authority. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Public Poll for Thomson Line Station Names". LTA. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Thomson Line Station Names Finalised". LTA. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Land Transport DataMall". Datamall. Land Transport Authority. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  6. ^ Sim, Royston (29 August 2012). "New Thomson MRT line to open from 2019, and have 22 stations". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Thomson Line to open from 2019 with 22 stations". Channel NewsAsia (CNA). 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  8. ^ "LTA Awards Two Contracts for Thomson Line's Springleaf and Upper Thomson Stations". LTA. 15 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Joint News Release by the Land Transport Authority & Singapore Land Authority – Thomson-East Coast Line: New MRT Links in the East". LTA. 19 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Thomson–East Coast Line". LTA. 13 February 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  11. ^ a b T212 Upper Thomson Station (Infographic poster at TEL2 Project Information Centre). Singapore: LTA. 2020.
  12. ^ a b "'More than a day to bore through 10cm of rock': Making Stage 2 of the Thomson-East Coast Line a reality". CNA. 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  13. ^ a b Wei, Toh Ting (16 August 2021). "Treading a fine line in building Thomson-East Coast Line stations". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d Wei, Toh Ting (20 August 2021). "Unique designs, seats with backrest among features at new Thomson-East Coast Line stations". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  15. ^ Liew, Isabelle (28 December 2016). "Shops in Upper Thomson Road hit hard by Christmas floods". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Contractor behind last December's Upper Thomson floods fined S$14,000". TODAYonline. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Second stage of Thomson-East Coast Line to open early 2021 after delays due to COVID-19: Ong Ye Kung". CNA. 4 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  18. ^ Ho, Grace (14 December 2020). "Stage 2 of Thomson-East Coast Line to be delayed by another six months to Q3 2021: LTA". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Stage 2 of Thomson-East Coast Line to be delayed by another six months". The Business Times. 14 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Second stage of Thomson-East Coast Line further delayed to third quarter next year". CNA. 14 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  21. ^ Abdullah, Zhaki (30 June 2021). "Second stage of Thomson-East Coast Line to begin operations on Aug 28". CNA. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  22. ^ Begum, Shabana (28 August 2021). "Commuters on first trains at new TEL2 stations reminisce about inaugural 1980s MRT rides". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  23. ^ "MRT System Map" (PDF). LTA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Getting Around – Public Transport – Rail Network". LTA. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  25. ^ "LTA | MRT/LRT". www.lta.gov.sg. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Upper Thomson – Exits". SMRT Journeys. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  27. ^ "Factsheet: Progress Update on Thomson-East Coast Line Stage 2". LTA. 17 January 2020. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  28. ^ a b c "Banyan trees and bulbuls: How Thomson-East Coast Line Stage 2 stations were inspired by nature". CNA. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
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