SINGAPORE : The Nicoll Highway Circle Line station and tunnels will be relocated following the tragic collapse of the road last April.
With this re-alignment, Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said Stage 1 of the Circle Line is expected to be completed by 2010.
He was speaking to reporters at the opening of the Punggol Light Rail Transit system on Saturday.
The Nicoll Highway Circle Line station and tunnels will be built a hundred metres from their original site, nearer to the Kallang River.
The change is to avoid possible problems during construction.
Mr Yeo said, "At the collapse site, there's a lot of debris, there's a lot of steel and lots of obstruction, so I think if they try to tunnel through there, if slightly, that runs into a lot of difficulties. Better start on a new site where everything is clear."
Mr Yeo added that any extra cost incurred from the re-alignment project will be borne by the contractor and the insurance company.
"The accident is something which not our fault, therefore the contractor and insurance have to pay for other rebuilding on the current line, of if they prefer new alignment, they can build on new alignment, we will provide the site to them," said Mr Yeo.
The Land Transport Authority will provide more details next week.
And as for Punggol residents, their new LRT service is up and running; while the SengKang West loop is also ready, providing an integrated rail network in the north eastern part of Singapore.
The average daily ridership for NEL and the Sengkang LRT has also increased steadily.
Last month, the average daily ridership for NEL was 195,000 and 18,000 for SengKang LRT - up from 175,000 and 6,000 respectively when they were first launched.
Next, the LTA will be extending the East West Line from Boon Lay station into the Jurong Industrial Estate.
Construction is expected to start later this year and it is expected to be completed in 2009. - CNA