Contract awards - J115A & the curious case of Peng Kang Hill

 

Platform level of Peng Kang Hill. Visible are escalators leading to both lower and upper concourse
levels.
Source: LinkedIn

Yesterday, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded contract J115A, which includes the construction of Peng Kang Hill station, to Hwa Seng Builder. The successful contractor is also in charge of neighbouring contract J113 for the construction of Nanyang Crescent and Nanyang Gateway stations. As such, this makes all stations within the Nanyang Technological University under the purview of a single contractor - an undoubtedly useful situation as the contractor should be able to ensure that the flow of construction vehicles into and out of the campus can be regulated much more ease than if the contracts were split between 2 different contractors.

An external view of Peng Kang Hill station.
Source: LTA

The contract for Peng Kang Hill station is a curious one. When initially tendered, it appeared as contract J115 which included construction of the station and neighbouring remote stabling facility. Subsequently, the contract was re-tendered as J115A for the station only and J115 remained unawarded. With yesterday's award, there is no further mention of the remote stabling facility and it remains to be seen if this will be built at a later stage when warranted. We understand that the Tengah depot is capable of housing up to 100 trains and with an initial order of 62 sets, this would be more than sufficient, making the remote facility a potential use of public funds that could be allocated elsewhere.

External view of Peng Kang Hill showing the connection to the upper concourse level.
Source: LinkedIn

Beyond the contract's sudden u-turn and change of plans, the Peng Kang Hill station itself is of an interesting design. Similar to Tuas Link on the East-West Line, this station will have an upper concourse above the platform. However unlike Tuas Link, it will also have a lower concourse much like the traditional elevated stations we see, where this level is located below the platform.

With the award of contract J115A, all civil contract for the Jurong Region Line have been released and secured. The project is expected to be completed it stages between 2027 and 2029.