Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Chinatown MRT Station

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Structure type
  
Underground

Opened
  
22 December 2013

Tracks
  
4

Platform levels
  
3

Level
  
3

Connections
  
Bus, Taxicab

Chinatown MRT Station

Location
  
151 New Bridge Road 91 Upper Cross Street Singapore 059443/058362

Operated by
  
SBS Transit (ComfortDelGro) (North East Line) SBS Transit DTL (Downtown Line)

Line(s)
  
North East Line   Downtown Line

Platforms
  
Island (North East Line) Side (Downtown Line)

Address
  
Singapore High Commission, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Similar
  
Outram Park MRT Station, Little India MRT Station, Bugis MRT Station, HarbourFront MRT Station, Clarke Quay MRT Station

Chinatown MRT Station (NE4/DT19) is a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North East Line and the Downtown Line in Outram, Singapore. On the North East Line, it lies between the Outram Park and Clarke Quay MRT stations and between Telok Ayer and Fort Canning MRT stations on the Downtown Line. It is directly below and serves the ethnic district of Chinatown. The construction of the station was considered an engineering achievement, due to the busy traffic on the roads above and a number of nearby historical buildings that had to be preserved during the construction. The section of track between Telok Ayer and this station is the shortest between any two stations on the MRT network; it takes around 35 to 40 seconds for a train to travel between the stations.

Contents

This station serves as the southern terminus of the Downtown Line from 22 December 2013 till 2017, where it would be replaced by Expo as the third stage of the line opens.

North East Line

There are Chinese calligraphy paintings in the station titled, "The Phoenix’s-Eye Domain" telling the significance of Chinatown. It is painted by renowned Singapore artist Tan Swie Hian.

Downtown Line

Artwork titled, "Flying Colours" by Cheo Chai Hiang illustrate hanging clothes on poles outside windows, delivering the illusion towards commuters passing by that the clothes are flying in the wind.

History

The North East Line part of this station was first constructed and opened on 20 June 2003. It is sited below Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. Provisions were made during the construction for Downtown MRT Line, where it was upgraded in January 2010.

The Downtown Line part of this station commenced on 12 February 2008 and opened on 22 December 2013, as part of the six-station Stage 1 of the Downtown Line. The Downtown Line station and tracks are built beneath Cross Street, above and perpendicular to the North-East Line station and tracks. Construction of the Downtown Line station also added a new entrance near Hong Lim Complex which enhances the connectivity to Hong Lim Complex instead of taking the MRT to Raffles Place and struggling with a walk.

Before the North-East Line part of this station opened, the Singapore Civil Defence Force conducted the second ever Shelter Open House on 15–16 February 2003, together with Farrer Park, Serangoon and Hougang stations.

Construction

This station is said to be the most challenging station to build on the North-East line, due to the large number of buildings above ground, most with reinforced concrete or timber piles and all in marine clay. Another feat was that they had to preserve Garden Bridge, a large overhead bridge on bore piles, while building the station below. The tidal Eu Tong Sen Canal was also diverted into four two-meter diameter steel pipes slung under the temporary traffic decks (two on each side). Rigorous safety precautions ensured there were no fatal accidents during the construction.

Station layout

The main entrance and exit of the station is situated in the middle of Pagoda Street within the heart of Chinatown, which is now closed to all automobiles but remains open to pedestrians and manual vehicles such as trishaws. One could note that the modern architecture of the station entrance could provide an uneasy contrast to the Victorian era shophouses surrounding it, although some like the cultural fusion between the two different architectures.

Exits

  • A: Chinatown Complex (Market & Food Centre)
  • C: People's Park Complex
  • D: People's Park Centre
  • E: Hong Lim Park
  • F: Fook Hai Building, Hong Lim Complex
  • G: Chinatown Point, Hong Lim Complex
  • References

    Chinatown MRT Station Wikipedia