J101 / Tengah Depot - A 2024 progress report

 

Top: Tengah depot on 11 January 2024
Bottom: Tengah depot on 5 December 2024

As the year draws to an end, we'll take a look back at the progress made at the various projects to see how far they've come. To kick things off, we'll begin the 2024 progress report at Tengah Depot on the Jurong Region Line (JRL). 

Depots are an essential piece of infrastructure for any rail line, being the centre from which all the line's operations stems from. If one were to compare it to the human body, the depot would be the heart and brain of the rail line. The operations control centre (OCC) is what controls the trains' movements on the line, much like how a human brain controls its bodily functions. The maintenance and stabling facilities are like the heart which help to facilitate the transportation of components around the network much like how a heart pumps blood through the network of arteries, veins and capillaries in the human body. So just how much progress has been made at Tengah depot in 2024?

Summary of the progress of various buildings within the depot

11 January 2024 - An aerial view of Tengah depot at the beginning of the year.

5 December 2024 - An aerial view of Tengah depot towards the end of the year.

Within the depot, different pieces of infrastructure play different roles, similar to the different muscle groups within the human body. Some of the first few pieces of infrastructure to be completed were the load centres and depot reception track ramps. At the beginning of the year, the load centres were the first buildings to attain the basic structural completion, with interior fit out works still required. By the end of the year, these fit out works had been largely completed with the various rooms in the buildings having made significant progress over the months. Fittings such as railings and louvres were installed, compared to the more bare-to-basic structural elements seen at the start of the year.

The reception track ramp had also made visible progress with the parapet walls and cable brackets being installed where only the stumps of the ramp columns were previously. The slab upon which rail tracks will be laid had also been cast, connecting the columns and ramp piers in a continuous deck.

11 January 2024 - The load centre buildings at the depot in the beginning of the year.

5 December 2024 - The load centre buildings towards the end of the year, now obscured by the
reception track ramp and utilities bridge.

Next to the reception track ramp is the administration building for the depot. The OCC and depot control centre (DCC) will be located within this building that has grown from foundation level to level 4 over the course of the year. The administration building is also connected to the utilities linkbridge, which is an elevated structure that allows conduits to connect the various facilities together. An elevated option is used to avoid having to disrupt depot operations once the tracks have been laid.

11 January 2024 - A view of the administration building's foundations in the beginning of the year.

5 December 2024 - A view of the administration building on the left, with the utilities linkbridge
on the right, towards the end of the year.

Another critical component of the depot is the rolling stock maintenance workshop. This facility will be required for static testing of the rolling stock once the trains arrive from Q1 2025. Earlier in January, the maintenance workshops only had the beginnings of rebar columns poking out from the ground. By the year's end, columns had popped up and beams were installed across most of the workshop site. In addition, track works had commenced in the area leading up to the workshop, fanning out to split the tracks into the multiple parallel lines entering the maintenance area.

11 January 2024 - An aerial view of the maintenance workshop in the foreground. The stabling
shed can be seen in the background.

5 December 2024 - An aerial view of the maintenance workshop in the foreground with track works
underway.

The stabling shed is located towards the back of the depot site. Early in the year, the shed was undergoing beam installation at roof level. By the end of the year, this had been completed with further slab casting performed. The roof would eventually be used for parking space for autonomous vehicles in order to maximise the use of space at the site. Similar to the maintenance workshop, track works had commenced in front of the stabling shed as well. 

11 January 2024 - A view of the stabling shed with beam installation taking place in the beginning
of the year.

5 December 2024 - The maintenance workshop int he front, partially obscuring the view of the
stabling shed at the back, towards the end of the year. Slabs had been cast at the roof level of the
stabling shed while further casting was in progress for the air vents.

Tengah depot will also house a multi-storey bus parking facility. For most part of the year, the dedicated facility had not made much progress as the focus on most of the structural works had been concentrated on the rail depot facilities. Towards the end of the year, columns for the bus parking facility began taking shape, although a long road lay ahead till the structure could achieve basic structural completion.

11 January 2024 - A view of the rebar stubs for the bus parking facility in early 2024.

5 December 2024 - Columns for the bus parking facility beginning to take shape in end 2024.

All in all, the contractor has made significant progress over the year. A large amount of work still remains to be completed before the maintenance facilities for the rail depot can achieve basic structural completion. We look forward to greater progress in 2025.

This post will also be available on Instagram & Facebook on 7 December 2024.