Thomson–East Coast MRT line

The construction of the TEL at Woodlands station.

The Thomson line was first announced on 25 January 2008. Several architectural and engineering consultancy packages were released in 2010 which indicated an increase in the number of stations from 18 in the initial announcement to the current 22 and length of the line from 27 to 30 km (17 to 19 mi).[4]

The Land Transport Authority announced on 16 June 2011 the location of the depot for the line, which was due to begin construction at the end of 2012. It also announced Woodlands as an interchange with the existing North South line and an additional station located near to Republic Polytechnic.[5]

On 29 August 2012, it was announced the Thomson line's deadline was pushed back to 2019 onwards instead of the indicative timeline of 2018 announced in the Land Transport Masterplan.[6] The line's deadline was pushed back to January 2020 as of 19 September 2019. The line officially opened 31 January 2020.[7]

Construction of the Thomson line began in January 2014.[8]

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on 27 June that year at Woodlands. All the working station names were confirmed as the final names except for Sin Ming station which was changed to Bright Hill.

In addition, a station box located in between Springleaf and Lentor Station named "Tagore" is speculated to be a MRT station once the area is developed enough similar to Hume on the Downtown line and Bukit Brown on the Circle line.[9]

The first stage of the line, involving Woodlands North, Woodlands and Woodlands South, began operation on 31 January 2020 and currently exists on 4.2km length of track.[10]

Construction site of Marine Parade station.

The Eastern Region line (ERL) was first announced on 23 October 2001.[11] In its preliminary plans, ERL was to have been a 40 kilometre rectangular loop that would complement the existing East West line and enhance inter- and intra-town travelling in the eastern region. It would have looped around the Jalan Besar and East Coast areas, intersecting the Circle line and other lines along the way, benefiting residents in Tampines, Bedok, Marine Parade, MacPherson and Kaki Bukit.[12] The northern part of Eastern Region line is renamed to Downtown line stage 3, whereas the southern part of Eastern Region line is renamed to East Coast stretch of Thomson-East Coast line. Sungei Bedok became an interchange between the Downtown and Thomson-East Coast lines.

On 11 July 2012, Josephine Teo, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport, announced that the Land Transport Authority is starting architectural and engineering consultancy studies for the Eastern Region line, which will eventually connect to the Thomson line.[13]

The director of rail services from the Land Transport Authority, Melvyn Thong, said on 29 May 2013 at the Modern Railways conference that there are plans to extend the Eastern Region line to the future Changi Airport Terminal 4 which was at that time, set to be ready by 2017[14] but on 1 June that year, the Land Transport Authority clarified that the Eastern Region line will not provide an MRT link to the planned Terminal 4.[15] On 30 August that year, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo unveiled plans that it will be linked to the future Changi Airport Terminal 5, a mega terminal, which will be the largest terminal in Singapore upon completion in the 2030s.[16]

The Eastern Region line was merged with the Thomson line on 15 August 2014 to form the Thomson–East Coast line, extending the project to five stages,[2] with nine more stations.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the East Coast stretch took place at Marine Parade on 21 July 2016. All the working station names, including Xilin on the Downtown line extension, were confirmed as the final names except for Amber station which was changed to Tanjong Katong. The authorities are also considering extending the Thomson–East Coast line to all terminals at Changi Airport, including the upcoming Terminal 5, announced Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan.[17][18]

SMRT Trains Ltd was appointed as the operator of the line on 15 September 2017.[19]

On 28 August 2019, the Land Transport Authority awarded several non-fare businesses along the line, with Asiaray Connect awarded an advertising contract and a consortium, made up of SMRT Experience, JR Business Development SEA and Alphaplus Investments appointed to run retail space. This is the first time the LTA outsourced these non-fare businesses.[20]

On 19 September that year, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed that the opening of the first stage of the Thomson–East Coast line from Woodlands North to Woodlands South was delayed to January 2020 from the indicative time of 2019 announced earlier,[21] subsequently confirmed as 31 January 2020. Self-assistance kiosks were installed at all TEL MRT stations and will be rolled out to all stations.[7][22]

On 11 January 2020, SMRT and LTA hosted an open house for the first stage of the line, with the stage opening for revenue service on 31 January 2020.

Tanah Merah station, which will be the future terminus of the line when the branch to Changi Airport station is converted to be part of the TEL.

The LTA has announced that studies are ongoing for the possibility of extending the Thomson–East Coast line from Sungei Bedok to either serve Changi Airport Terminal 5 directly or via Changi Airport MRT station, terminating at Changi Village. On 25 May 2019, it was confirmed that it will be extended to Changi Airport Terminal 5, which will start construction in 2020, and Changi Airport. The stretch of rail network between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport on the East West line will be converted to form part of the extension.[23][24] The extension is expected to begin construction after 2022,[25] with train services commencing by 2040.