The Other Unfinished Rail Line at Punggol - SGLRH Extras

Did you know that Punggol MRT station has provisions for another unfinished train line that the general public have no access to?
Special Thanks to the Cross Island Line Punggol Extension Project Information Centre. It's currently right next to Punggol MRT Station, so visit it while you can!
The book we've referenced "Getting There: The Story of the North East Line" is also a great read, but do note that the one in NLB is a reference book and cannot be loaned out: catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/search/c...
MRT Geographical map by Seloloving, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@daspacepony]

As a northerner myself who frequently travels towards Tampines and Changi, I am so grateful you made a video about this! I have always thought the CRL Punggol Extension would serve as a perfect opportunity to connect Yishun with Punggol and Changi, and replace the incredibly congested and packed 858 and 969 buses. Anyone from LTA if you're watching this, I second this! The planned ninth MRT line is not going to follow this path anyway.

[@placeholderblankspace]

They probably will extend eventually, the fact Pasir Ris to Punggol exists to alleviate TPE bus traffic is alr a sign they’ll try to do the same thing with the SLE eventually

[@cra_55]

We need a line like this badly. The connection between north, northeast and east is way underserved. Everyone is getting sick of dreadful 858 journeys, and Seletar Airport could be so much better if it had better connections.

[@amazingstarzz]

Agreed! The north is quite car centric. If LTA finds the JRL feasible then they should implement the North Shore Line too

[@ColdPrata]

this series coming back is a big W

[@immasenne]

true

[@amazingstarzz]

This line would be amazing! Singapore is in dire need of a MRT line that connects the north region or outer regions of SG. Instead our MRT lines all bypass the downtown area leading to overcrowding

[@Lightforspirit]

That is almost certainly the long term plan - that is why the PE branch interchanges with Pasir Ris on its own platforms and not the main CRL platforms. PE branch will likely be split off in future to merge with the North Coast/Shore Line, just like how the original three station Branch Line merged with the North South Line, and the Changi Airport Branch is merging with the Thomson-East Coast Line.

[@realzia2]

We need a connection from the north to the northeastern/eastern side of sg desperately. 969, 858, 39 and 85 simply aren’t enough plus the bus rides are pretty long. They should extend the line to yishun at least. It would cut travel time from around 1 hour + to simply 15-30 minutes

[@user-xe2iv7mt7e]

going to Tampines every day from the North, a line like this would be so helpful

[@reddragon2k6]

The 9th line’s alignment isn’t finalised as far as I know, think the one shown in the straits times was just a possibility. Anything is at this point… but such an alignment would be a blessing.

[@remyworldpeace]

Awesome video - succinct but packed with fascinating information. Really cool they're using the box at Punggol. I agree extending CRL to the North would be excellent (not that it would benefit me much here in Queenstown) Please make more videos!!

[@aehighfmcolinchin]

Potentially the CRL Punggol Extension may be extended further

[@PrograError]

It's likely to take while...maybe in the 2050s? PM wong would have become SM then...

[@user-xd2gy5yp5l]

My guess is that LTA wishes to see some concrete plans by URA/SLA for the future land use of Simpang first before committing.

[@DTLfan396]

If they do extend the line, I'm hoping they also add a stop at Seletar Airport, and maybe even go further west to somewhere like the Singapore zoo (if there's enough demand for that)

[@hglim738]

Mandai can do with a MRT line, perhaps connecting Yishun to Sg Kadut

[@SGrailadventure2004]

This series is really great especially for children’s to know more about the ‘secrets’ and ‘white elephant’ projects behind our rail network! Punggol seems like a town in Singapore with several LRT Lines that did not came to a reality today (sadly, only the East and West Loops), although the town now is pretty much developed with the Digital District / SIT campus coming up. The North-East region in Singapore does have many amenities and transport connections to get around the nation and hoping that the Cross Island Line - Punggol Extension could be extended to the Northern part of the country (somewhere at Yishun or Woodlands) one day as well!

[@woodencube33]

Would be great for reducing some of that 20 lane monster near TPE Seletar

[@antant9523]

honestly, it would be better to have terminal 5 to punggol continue on to woodlands as the north shore line while cross island line would start at pasir ris instead. this would also make seletar and changi airport on the same line which would be convenient if they ever move other smaller flights to seletar

[@1ako415]

i think they are planning to do this, to merge the north shore line at Seletar with the CRL line until changi airport. Then the 9th line will eventually start from seletar towards town

[@froggy-orangejuice]

lets go En G Post back at mrt content once more🎉🎉🎉😝

[@nswtrains3153]

Sydney Australia near my area in AUS, we have a North shore line in service

[@placeholderblankspace]

have you seen the 2001 MRT concept map? sheds quite a bit of light on what could have been my suspicion is since CPE won’t be extended to Yishun until Seletar gets more development? or when they start developing Simpang (same like JRL coming up with Tengah). there’s also the fabled 9th MRT line that runs north-south from Seletar thru Kallang that might happen some day we never know. as for station boxes I know there’s like a old 2010 rumour about Changi Airport having a station box as well, which could have been used for TEL but it seems they’re full sending the absorbing of the branch line

[@aaronogt]

They should extend CRL to Yishun because more people

[@christopheryongmenglee7569]

I think is CRL and SLL from Woodlands North to Greater Southern Waterfront

[@therandomidiotontheinternet]

welcome back

[@PrograError]

TBH if the planned line were real, we'd have gotten an Ubin-Tekong EWL extension which were on the books until protest by environmentalists

[@MrBoliao98]

When the develop Simpang, they will extend accordingly. But Seletar, now being from that camp, they will never remove it.

[@cmma2933]

Not likely I guess afterall they expect you to change at AMK for CRL

[@user-xd2gy5yp5l]

They seriously need to consider building the North Coast line or whatever its called. Or at the very least, extend CRLe towards Yishun or Woodlands. Takes ages to travel from Yishun to Pasir Ris.

[@eliasgc49]

Actually if someone from yishun or khatib wants to go airport next time, they can take 2-3 stops down to AMK then take cross island Line over, so idk if extending the punggol extension to the north is really needed

[@eliasgc49]

Although writing this comment again, connections to the northeast from the north would be nice

[@AlqaZen]

if it is open...i would not have taken the slow 969 from woodlands int to tampines int hahaha soo slow....but at the same time can sleep for abit haha

[@SGrailadventure2004]

You know what, if you had watched the ‘Bus 147 / 167’ Discovery video, most commuters who frequently used both routes (as a example) prefer it more than taking the rail network as they don’t have to squeeze the crowds at the station and stand while onboard the train, as they can rest and enjoy the scenery view while on the bus (as it’s likewise for me also when travelling by bus to Changi Airport).

[@Oscar_Ye]

Finally

[@travelguy78]

I think we need to differentiate between the "LRT" we have in Singapore and proper LRT systems. The manufacturer of the LRT systems in Singapore classify them as "people movers" and not LRT systems. Proper LRT systems definitely can have a place in Singapore

[@engardepostsg]

We mentioned this in our main Punggol North LRT episode. It seems the only proper LRT/light rail we will get is the Jurong Region Line, which ironically was proposed as an "LRT" line in the early days. BTW we may have missed out and forgot to mention in the video itself, when referencing the "Getting There: The Story of the North East Line" book, which was published in 2003, it seems that the North Shore line plans changed from an LRT line to a full MRT line, and you may have noticed in the screenshot of the book itself.

[@MoraxIsDEAD]

Early!!