Downtown Line extension to Sungei Kadut to open in 2035

A new underground MRT station will be built near Yew Tee Village as part of a planned extension of the Downtown Line (DTL) from Bukit Panjang to Sungei Kadut, with travel time to downtown areas such as Chinatown expected to be cut by 20 minutes when it is completed. The 4km rail extension will also comprise a new interchange with the North-South Line (NSL) in Sungei Kadut Central. The stations will open in 2035, with construction to start in the fourth quarter of 2025, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement on Jan 6.

LTA said the first new station after the current DTL terminus in Bukit Panjang will be located in Sungei Kadut Avenue on industrial land owned by government agency JTC Corporation that is slated to undergo future development. Codenamed DE1, the station will be located near the Rail Corridor, and it will be connected to Pang Sua Fishing Deck, Yew Tee Village and the Pang Sua Park Connector via a new pedestrian bridge. A dual two-lane vehicular bridge, as well as access roads, will be built to connect the new MRT station with Choa Chu Kang North 7 and Woodlands Road.



Covered linkways and cycling paths will also be constructed to improve first- and last-mile connectivity. Farther north, the new interchange in Sungei Kadut will serve as the new terminus for the DTL. The DTL station will be built underground, and it will link to a new above-ground NSL station between the existing Yew Tee and Kranji stations.

The interchange will serve the upcoming Sungei Kadut Eco-District, a 200ha industrial estate being developed by JTC as part of longer-term plans by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to revamp one of Singapore’s oldest industrial estates. Given the proximity of the new DTL extension to the Rail Corridor, which serves as a key ecological corridor between major green spaces and forest habitats in Singapore, LTA said it has carried out an environmental study in consultation with nature groups. Measures will be taken to minimise the environmental impact of the works, including providing a wildlife corridor along the Rail Corridor during construction.

The relevant reports will be published on LTA’s website this month for public feedback. LTA said the DTL extension will improve the resilience of the MRT network in north-western Singapore by giving passengers alternative travel and transfer options. At present, residents living in the north-western region can take the NSL or the Thomson-East Coast Line to the downtown area.

When the extension is ready, the DTL will have 39 stations spanning 44km. These include the upcoming Hume station, which will open in second quarter of 2025, as well as Xilin and Sungei Bedok stations, which will be operational in the second half of 2026. The idea of constructing an MRT station in Sungei Kadut to serve north-western Singapore has long been in the works.

Concrete plans to do so were announced in 2019 as part of the Land Transport Master Plan 2040, which lays out LTA’s roadmap to expand the MRT network, so that nine in 10 peak-period journeys can be completed within 45 minutes using public transport. Sungei Kadut, which houses businesses in the timber, furniture, construction and waste management industries, will be progressively developed over the next 20 to 30 years to support the transformation of traditional manufacturing industries as well as new growth sectors, such as agri-tech and environmental technology. A centrepiece for the new eco-district is the 18ha Agri-Food Innovation Park (AFIP), which was supposed to open in phases from 2021.

Construction of the AFIP was, however, paused for five months in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has since stalled. JTC and the Singapore Food Agency told The Straits Times in October 2024 that plans for the development of the park are still being worked out, and details will be announced when they are ready. The agencies did not say then what had caused the delays.

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