June 2024, the Thomson-East Coast Line in Singapore will include seven new MRT station

From June 23, 2024, the Thomson-East Coast Line will have seven new MRT Stations.
The TEL Stage 4 includes the following stations: Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap, and Bayshore.
From 10am to 9pm on the 21st of June, commuters will have the opportunity to travel at no cost along these seven stations. Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Facebook pages will provide more information as the date approaches.
The Transport Ministry announced that it would also update regulations on taxis and private hire cars, and improve the point-topoint platform (P2P).
TEL commuters are expected to enjoy travel savings up 50% with the new seven TEL stations.
TEL, for example, will reduce the travel time from Marine Parade to Shenton Way by 20 minutes compared to 40 minutes currently required to get there via bus and train.
There will be around 235,000 households within a 10 minute walk of a TEL Station, from Woodlands North all the way to Bayshore.
Punggol’s Coast Station, on the North-East Line Extension is scheduled to open at the end of the year. The minister said that this station would provide convenient access to Singapore Institute of Technology Punggol, which will be opening in the coming year, as also the Punggol Digital District.
Hume Station will open on the Downtown Line in 2025. It will provide better access to Central Rail Corridor.
Bedok South Station, Sungei Bedok interchange and Xilin are all scheduled to be open by 2026. This is when the TEL extension and DTL stage 5 projects will be completed. East Coast Integrated Depot will also be open by 2026. It has tunnels that connect to TEL and DTL along with viaducts on the East-West Line.
has announced in the past that these projects are scheduled to open by 2025.
Three additional Circle Line Stations will open in 2026. Keppel Cantonment Prince Edward station will “close loop” between HarbourFront, Marina Bay and the existing HarbourFront station.
The temporary closure of one platform at HarbourFront Station and Telok Blangah station is expected to last until May, in order to facilitate these integration projects.
Bukit Panjang’s dual loop LRT service will resume on Saturdays at 11am-1pm & 5pm-7pm.
It is operating in one loop at off-peak hours only since Dec 1, 2019. This has been done to facilitate the renewal works.
LTA said that it would continue to monitor the network’s performance and decide if more hours off-peak should be covered. Full dual loops will continue to operate during weekday mornings, and evenings.
The Bukit Panjang LRT is also scheduled to start passenger service with two new trains in the third quarter, 2024. There are 19 new trains to replace the vehicles of the first generation, which has been in service from 1999.
A new train signalling system based on communications is being used to upgrade vehicles of the second generation. It is expected that more trains will complete the upgrade this year and return to passenger service.
Bukit panjang LRT services on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will finish one hour earlier at 10.30pm. This applies from Mar 22 through Jun 30.
The following buses are available after 10:30pm. These buses serve Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang areas.
LTA stated that the Sengkang Punggol LRT will see improvements to the commuter flow in the Sengkang LRT station platform this month, including dedicated stops for each of its four routes.
The station will receive new signage and queue markings as well a new system of tactile guidance to make boarding and exiting easier.

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By the end this year, Sengkang Punggol LRT will have the first of its 25 new 2-car trains. The trains will undergo testing and then be gradually deployed to passenger service. These new trains eventually will replace the existing trains (some of which are two-car) and the existing one car trains. This will increase passenger capacity.
We are on the right track to reach the goal of expanding our rail network to approximately 360km by 2030. Eight in 10 homes will be within 10 minute walking distance of the nearest train station.
It will update the requirements of taxis, and private-hire car drivers. This will make sure that it is current, since one of the reasons for the decline in taxi supplies is because of tighter regulation requirements which leads to higher operating expenses for taxi operators as well as higher rental rates for drivers.
As an example, the frequency of inspections for different vehicle types will change. Taxis older than three years will now be inspected only once a calendar year. This is down from six times a month.
A chauffeured car older than 10 will have to be inspected every 6 months instead of annually.
The legal lifespan for diesel, petrol, and electric taxis is being extended from eight to 10 year.
It will be no longer necessary for smaller taxi companies to offer call-booking, “given that the cost is high relative to a low utilization rate”.
ComfortDelGro is continuing to provide this service.
The authorities will introduce baseline standards for platforms that provide P2P services to reduce the impact of disruptions.
LTA drivers, commuters, and operators must be informed within an hour if they confirm a systemic incident that could impact P2P. They must then submit an outline of the measures taken to solve the incident.
Operators also need to create and periodically review contingency planning in order for them to be able recover service quickly and reduce the likelihood that any systemic incident will recur.
As commuters or drivers may rely upon P2P services to support their livelihoods the notification period for operators intending to exit the market will be increased by twofold. Operators now have to inform LTA about their exit plan 120 days prior, instead of the current 60.
Applicants must inform the public of their intention to cancel the licence at least 60 working days before they do so.
The authorities are also working with operators to enhance booking platforms. This makes it easier for commuters and passengers to indicate that they require a private hire car with sufficient boot room, for instance, to fit a foldable wheel chair or a baby seat.
If the service is unavailable, commuters should be able to cancel their original booking and make another one.