J109 - Soil investigation & Utility tracing

 

18 April 2019

Contract J109 entails the construction of Toh Guan, Jurong Town Hall and Pandan Reservoir stations for the Jurong Region Line (JRL). A strange contract as it is broken into two sections - the northern section which involves Toh Guan station and the southern section which involves the other 2 stations. In between are contracts J120 and J110 for the construction of viaducts through the Jurong Hub integrated development & construction of Jurong East interchange station respectively.

J110 - A new bus interchange

 

29 November 2020 - A view of the first temporary Jurong East bus interchange next to Jurong East MRT station.

After nearly 9 years in operation, the first temporary bus interchange at Jurong East will be relocated. To our knowledge, this is the first time where a second temporary facility has been constructed for use. Come 6th December 2020, operations will commence at the new facility located opposite the existing interchange. This will be the second bus interchange to shift in order to facilitate construction works for the Jurong Region Line (JRL).

J102 - Progress and upcoming activities

 

14 November 2020 - An aerial view of Choa Chu Kang interchange station site.

Since our last update of Contract J102, there has been some progress made. Most visible is the progress around Choa Chu Kang station for site preparation. Scaffolding has been going up around the vacated Block 303 along Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4. A few fabric noise barriers have been installed ahead of the demoltion works.

J107 - It's coming!

14 November 2020 - A view of Jurong West Street 75 and Gek Poh Shopping Centre.

For years my relatives have lived in Gek Poh Ville, right opposite Gek Poh Shopping Centre & Community Club. When I used to stay with them, a ride on bus route 243 was necessary to get to the MRT station at Boon Lay, the then western terminus of the East West Line. Back then the only buildings around Jurong West Central 1 were the Jurong Point shopping centre (albeit much smaller), the MRT station and the bus interchange. Jurong West Street 64 did not even run under the MRT viaducts at that time. From this, you can tell just how long my relatives have been residing in Gek Poh - long enough for my cousins to have progressed from being primary school students to working adults.

Thus it was with much excitement that one of them messaged me some photos of circulars from the contract J107 main contractor that had been put up at the lift lobby of their block - "It's coming!" she texted excitedly. Contract J107 is for the construction of Gek Poh and Tawas stations with associated viaducts for the Jurong Region Line (JRL).

J106 - Upcoming work at Boon Lay

 

08 November 2020 - An aerial view of the Boon Lay East West Line station with the LTA Project office in the background

The site around Boon Lay station has undergone some changes since the update of the site of the future Jurong Region Line (JRL) interchange station. Since our last visit to Contract J106's site, more site offices have sprung up in the vicinity of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) Project Office and the main contractor has also issued a new circular detailing upcoming works.

Contract update - J105 Bahar Junction

02 July 2020 - Site conditions at the location of the future Bahar Junction station

The contract for construction of Bahar Junction station, J105, was awarded to China Railway No 11 Bureau in December 2019. Since then, the contractor has been gearing up to commence construction of the unique 3-direction station and transfer facility for the Jurong Region Line (JRL).

Contract update - J105 Jurong West

02 July 2020

Contract J105 for the construction of Jurong West and Bahar Junction stations and associated viaducts for the Jurong Region Line was awarded to China Railway No 11 Bureau in December 2019. Prior to construction works commencing on site, extensive utility diversion works have been ongoing at the site of the future Jurong West station.

Contract awards - J109, J152, J155 & J160

Render of the Toh Guan station.
Source: JRTC

On Friday, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced the award of 4 contracts for the Jurong Region Line (JRL). The first contract awarded was for J109 which will include the construction of Toh Guan, Jurong Town Hall and Pandan Reservoir stations along with associated viaducts and commuter facilities. This contract has been awarded to the joint venture of Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co Ltd - Yongnam Engineering & Construction Pte Ltd. Daewoo is currently constructing the Stevens station on the Thomson-East Coast Line while Yongnam has been a key supplier of struts used in the construction of several underground MRT stations.

J108 Tengah Park render

Render of Tengah Park MRT station.
Source: Choa Chu Kang Town Council

Recently, several town councils have released their 5 year masterplan to let residents know of upcoming plans being rolled out in their neighbourhoods. A major component of these masterplans are transport and accessibility. As such, several Jurong Region Line (JRL) stations have featured in these plans unveiled by the town councils. Choa Chu Kang town council released this 3D render of Tengah Park station recently, showing the station featuring a link bridge across Bukit Batok Road. The station also sports the typical JRL station design with a steel roof over protruding back of house rooms at the platform level. As an added bonus, a render of Hume station on the Downtown Line can also be found in the masterplan.

Contract update - J106 Boon Lay

Contact J106 for the construction of Boon Lay station on the Jurong Region Line (JRL) was awarded in February 2020 to China Communications Construction Company. Since the award date, there has yet to be much movement at the site of the future station which will sit perpendicularly a level above the existing East West Line train tracks.

02 July 2020 - Aerial view of Boon Lay station site from the south

Contract update - J102 Choa Chu Kang

Contract J102 was one of the earliest awarded contracts for the Jurong Region Line (JRL), being awarded to Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC) in September 2019. Since the contract award, some work has commenced in the vicinity of Choa Chu Kang station for site preparation. This involves the demolition of the former Choa Chu Kang bus interchange built in the 1990's, demolition of block 303 consisting of a multi-storey carpark with commercial units on the ground floor and construction of replacement parking lots.

02 July 2020 - A view of block 303 & remnants of the former Choa Chu Kang bus interchange as seen from the Choa Chu Kang MRT station.

Renders update

It has been a while since the team has been able to provide any updates on our blogs and we would like to take this opportunity to apologise for this "drought" experienced. With the Corona Virus making an impact around the world, real life has caught up with our team as well - most of us work in the healthcare industry and have been busy on the frontlines ensuring that the spread of the virus is being minimized. We thank our readers for your patience and will attempt to provide updates on the construction of the Jurong Region Line in a more regular manner from here on out.

Edited 20 July 2020 - Added renders for Tengah Park, Jurong Town Hall & Pandan Reservoir stations.

Edited 9 August 2020 - Added renders for Toh Guan, Jurong East, Jurong Town Hall & Pandan Reservoir stations.

Edited 24 January 2021 - Added additional renders for Choa Chu Kang, Choa Chu Kang West, Bahar Junction & Gek Poh stations.

Contract updates - J108 & J111

Artist's impression of Bukit Batok West station
Source: McConnell Dowell

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded Contract J108 for the construction of Tengah Plantation, Tengah Park & Bukit Batok West stations to a joint venture of McConnell Dowell and John Holland last month. This represents the first contract from phase 2 of the Jurong Region Line (JRL) to be awarded.

Contract awards - J151, J106, J107 & J110

Render of the contract J151 trains by Hyundai Rotem.
Source: LTA

February has been a milestone month in the progress of the Jurong Region Line (JRL) with the award of 4 major contracts for the line. These include contracts for supply of trains for the line as well as the construction of 2 stations and 2 interchanges.