Eastern Region MRT Line

The Eastern Region Line (ERL) will be the seventh Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. The construction schedule was announced in 2008 with completion set for 2020. The whole line will be completely underground. It is under planning and evaluation.

The Eastern Region Line will begin from Marina Bay, through residential estates of Tanjong Rhu, Marine Parade, Siglap, Bedok South and Upper East Coast, and link them to Changi in the east. It will also connect to the future Thomson Line.

History
The line was first officially announced on 18 October 2001. In its preliminary plans, Eastern Region Line 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. However, the northern part of the loop such as Jalan Besar, Tampines, MacPherson and Kaki Bukit is now part of the Stage 3 of the Downtown Line. The ERL is now planned to closely follow the southern stretch of the originally announced plan.

On 11 July 2012, a speech by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport, at Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) Tunelling Works Ceremony, announced that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) are starting architectural and engineering consultancy studies for the Eastern Region Line, which will eventually connect to the Thomson Line.

On 17 January 2013, on the launch of the Land Transport Masterplan 2013, it was revealed that the line is now 21 km, instead of 13 km when announced in 2012.

On 29 May 2013, Land Transport Authority director of rail services, Melvyn Thong said at the Modern Railways conference, there are plans to extend ERL and link to the future Singapore Changi Airport's Terminal 4 which is set to be ready by 2017 but on 1 June 2013, LTA clarified that ERL will not provide an MRT link to the planned Terminal 4.