Raffles Place MRT station

 EW14  NS26 
Raffles Place
莱佛士坊
ராஃபிள்ஸ் பிளேஸ்
Raffles Place

Rapid transit
South-bound platform of Raffles Place station
Location 5 Raffles Place
Singapore 048618
Coordinates 1°17′1.97″N 103°51′5.52″E / 1.2838806°N 103.8515333°E / 1.2838806; 103.8515333
Operated by SMRT Trains (SMRT Corporation)
Line(s)
  East West line
  North South line
Platforms Stacked Island
Tracks 4
Connections Bus, Taxi
Construction
Structure type Underground
Platform levels 2
Parking Yes (External)
Bicycle facilities Yes (External)
No (Inside station)[1]
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code  EW14  NS26 
History
Opened 12 December 1987 (1987-12-12)
Electrified Yes
Previous names Central
Services
Preceding station   Mass Rapid Transit   Following station
towards Pasir Ris
East West line
towards Tuas Link
towards Jurong East
North South line
Location
Exterior view of Raffles Place MRT station
Raffles Xchange

Raffles Place MRT station (EW14/NS26) is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the East West Line and North South Line in Downtown Core, Singapore. It is located directly underneath Raffles Place, Singapore's financial district, south of the Singapore River. Due to its location, it is one of the busiest MRT stations on the MRT network.

Raffles Place station is one of the five MRT interchange stations in Singapore to feature a cross-platform interchange; the other stations are City Hall MRT station, Tanah Merah MRT station, Jurong East MRT station, Bayfront MRT station. It is within walking distances to Downtown MRT station and Telok Ayer MRT station on the Downtown Line.

History

On 9 October 1983, local ventures had won the MRT job for the construction of the tunnel from City Hall to Raffles Place.[2] On the larger scale, on 4 May 1984, the contractor, Taisei-Shimizu-Marubeni had awarded the contract for the station, Contract 108. To make way for the construction of the station, the Chartered Bank Building was torn down.

During the construction, massive rocks were blasted out of the way for the station, which shook several buildings near the station.[3] This station used to be the largest and deepest MRT station in Singapore,[4] but the record was broken by Dhoby Ghaut in 2003 and then by Bras Basah in 2010, by Promenade in 2013 and then by Bencoolen in 2017 which is 43 metres below ground. In 1998, some foreigners who could not find accommodation in Singapore were caught staying overnight in the station, and were regarded as loiterers.[5] It is also one of the four MRT stations to appear in "Uniquely Singapore Edition" of the board game Monopoly.

The station is the only MRT station to ever participate in three terrorist exercises, which are Exercise Northstar IV on January 11, 2004, Exercise Northstar V on 9 January 2006 when it was one of four stations which participated in the exercise on January 8, 2006, as well as Exercise Northstar VII in 7 July 2009, together with Sentosa, VivoCity, Bedok, Tampines, Choa Chu Kang and Jurong East.

The faregates at this station were replaced in 2014. The oldest station entrances A and B were heavily renovated by 28 September 2017 with glass cladding.

On 7 October 2017, a small fire was spotted trackside in the tunnel between Marina Bay and this station, but it died out by itself. Its cause is unknown, but it may have been due to a short circuit.[6][7]

Nearby points of interest

References

  1. ↑ "SMRT > Trains > NetworkMap > RafflesPlace". www.smrt.com.sg. SMRT. Retrieved 7 June 2017. Station Amenities
  2. ↑ Local ventures had won MRT job for construction
  3. ↑ "Shudders from MRT work". The Straits Times. 21 May 1985. p. 8.
  4. ↑ "Largest MRT station". The Straits Times. 8 July 1986.
  5. ↑ "Raffles station becomes Raffles 'hotel' for seven". The Straits Times. 22 November 1988. p. 20.
  6. ↑ "Water in the tunnel, trackside fire caused train disruption on NSL: SMRT". Channel Newsasia. 8 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "NSL disruption: Train services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton will not be available until earliest Sunday". The Straits Times. 7 October 2017.

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