Upper Thomson MRT station

History

Upper Thomson station was first announced as part of the 22-station Thomson Line on 29 August 2012. In November 2013, the contract for the station's construction was awarded to Sato Kogyo (S) Pte. Ltd. The S$374 million (US$ million) contract included building the associated tunnels. The station's construction began in 2014, with a scheduled completion of 2020.

On 15 August 2014, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that TSL would merge with the ERL to form the TEL. Upper Thomson station, being part of the proposed line, would be constructed as part of TEL2, which consists of six stations between Springleaf and Caldecott.

The road above the station, Upper Thomson Road, had to be diverted through seven stages, along with utilities and a canal. Barriers were installed to minimise noise pollution, with workers draping noise curtains on heavy machinery. A linkway to one of the station's entrances was constructed using a retractable micro-tunnel boring machine. This machine installed a series of interlocking underground pipes around the passageway, allowing one side of the Upper Thomson Road to remain open as workers excavate the linkway. In order to reduce carbon emissions during construction, the station was built using environmentally-friendly materials.

In December 2016, shops along Upper Thomson Road were affected by a flood, which severely impacted their businesses as their goods were damaged. Through an inspection by the Public Utilities Board (PUB), the contractor, Sato Kogyo, was fined S$14,000 (US$) for altering the draining systems around the station's site without informing the PUB. Fourteen other contractors working on other construction works were also penalised on similar charges.

With the restrictions imposed on construction works due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the TEL2 completion date was pushed to 2021. On 14 December 2020, it was further announced that the opening of TEL 2 was delayed to the third quarter of 2021 so the rail system software for the line could be reviewed. As announced during a visit by Transport Minister S. Iswaran at Caldecott station on 30 June 2021, the station began operations on 28 August 2021.

Station details

Upper Thomson station serves the TEL and is between the Bright Hill and Caldecott stations. The official station code is TE8. Being part of the TEL, the station is operated by SMRT Trains. Train frequencies on the TEL range from 3 to 6 minutes. The station has five entrances, serving Soo Chow Estate and various landmarks along Upper Thomson Road, including Thomson Plaza, Church of the Holy Spirit and the LTA office at Sin Ming.

The station has a length of 228 m and a depth of 20 m. The station walls have wave-like motifs that reflects the station's proximity to three reservoirs – MacRitchie Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir and Lower Peirce Reservoir. The station is decorated by 88 animal figures, which are part of the Art-in-Transit artwork Lost in Our (Concrete) Jungle by Troy Chin. The artwork, primarily depicting long-tailed macaques, took inspiration from the nearby Central Catchment Nature Reserve. With the "hide-and-seek" concept adopted for the artwork, Chin intended for his artwork to be enjoyable and "fun" for commuters. The number of figures signifies Upper Thomson station being the 88th station involved in the Art-in-Transit programme.

References

References

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8. (15 November 2013). "LTA Awards Two Contracts for Thomson Line's Springleaf and Upper Thomson Stations".
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20. (14 December 2020). "Second stage of Thomson–East Coast Line further delayed to third quarter next year".
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28. (20 August 2021). "Banyan trees and bulbuls: How Thomson–East Coast Line Stage 2 stations were inspired by nature".