Thomson MRT Line

The Thomson Line (TSL) will be the sixth Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and the fourth fully automatic and driverless system line in Singapore. The line is fully underground. Costing S$18 billion and opening in three phases, starting from 2019 onwards, the Thomson Line will add greatly to the accessibility and connectivity of the current rail network, with interchanges to all existing lines. It is expected to serve about 400,000 commuters daily.

The line, which is 30 km long and consists of 22 stations, will run through the north-south corridor, starting in the northern Woodlands area, passing through the industrial estate of Sin Ming, down to the residential Thomson area and the shopping districts of Orchard and Marina Bay, before ending at Gardens by the Bay. Residents in the heartlands of Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Moulmein-Kallang will benefit from faster and more direct connections to the city. Its depot is located at Mandai, south of Woodlands.

History
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 km to 30 km.

On 16 June 2011, the Land Transport Authority announced the location of the depot for the line, 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. In addition, the northern terminus will also house the Johor Bahru RTS link.

On 29 August 2012, it was announced the Thomson Line will be ready from 2019 onwards instead of the indicative timeline of 2018 announced in the Land Transport Masterplan.

Construction of the Thomson Line began in January 2014.

Opening in phases
The Thomson Line will be opening in 3 phases: Phase 1 in 2019, Phase 2 in 2020 and Phase 3 in 2021.

Phase 1 (2019)
Phase 1 consists of Woodlands North, Woodlands and Woodlands South. This phase will affect passengers living in northern Singapore and enhance accessibility and connectivity to the Central Business District and Downtown area.

Phase 2 (2020)
Phase 2 consists of the middle section of the Thomson Line, namely Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Sin Ming, Upper Thomson and Caldecott. Residents of the newly developed Springleaf estate will be welcomed by a new MRT station in the future. Passengers living west of Ang Mo Kio or Thomson will also be able to experience savings in travel time when commuting. As for Caldecott, it will become an interchange station with Thomson Line when it opens in 2020 and will connect commuters to the orbital Circle Line, offering inter-suburban connectivity.

Phase 3 (2021)
Phase 3 includes the final thirteen stations from Mount Pleasant to the terminus, Gardens by the Bay. It will interchange with the North South Line at Orchard and Marina Bay stations, East West Line and North East Line at Outram Park station, Circle Line at Marina Bay station and Downtown Line at Stevens station.

Rolling stock
The Thomson Line's rolling stock will be a four-car system instead of the previous three-car system to enable additional capacity to cope with any increase in long-term demand.