The East–West Line (EWL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line operated by SMRT in Singapore, running from Pasir Ris station in the east to Tuas Link station in the west, with an additional branch between Changi Airport and Tanah Merah stations. It is the second Mass Rapid Transit line to be built in Singapore. Coloured green on the rail map, the line serves 35 stations, eight of which (all stations from Lavender to Tiong Bahru, as well as Changi Airport) are underground. At , the line is the longest on the MRT network.
Constructed and opened as part of the North–South Line (NSL) in the early stages of development, the East–West Line was the second rail line formed in Singapore after NSL, with the opening of the eastern extension to Tanah Merah on the EWL in 1989. Nevertheless, both lines use identical signalling equipment and rolling stock. The East–West Line signalling systems have been upgraded along with the North–South Line, with both MRT lines having its signalling fully upgraded, converting it from semi-automatic to fully automatic.
History Initial developments The first segment of what would become the East–West Line, between City Hall and Outram Park stations, was opened on 12 December 1987 as part of the North–South Line and Phase 1 of the initial system. Subsequently, it was extended westwards to Clementi station on 12 March 1988 and to Lakeside on 5 November 1988.
The eastern extension to Tanah Merah station opened on 4 November 1989, which also marked the start of independent operations as the East–West Line. The opening ceremony was attended by then First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
The line extension to Pasir Ris station was opened ahead of schedule on 16 December 1989 with a sneak preview beforehand. Boon Lay station opened on 6 July 1990, marking the completion of the initial MRT system.
Subsequent developments Dover station
Construction on a new infill station located between Buona Vista station and Clementi station, namely Dover station, began in June 1998. It is the first station in the MRT network to be built as an infill station. The building of the station was met with reservations by some members of the public over the small area it serviced and there were criticisms over the spending of "taxpayers' money" chiefly for use only by students of one educational institution. Despite some opposition, the Land Transport Authority proceeded with the construction to serve commuters along Singapore Polytechnic with Dover housing estate. The station opened on 18 October 2001. Prior to opening, test runs were conducted from 13 to 17 October 2001, where the trains stopped at the station but did not open their doors.
Tanah Merah to Airport extension line
The idea of extending the Mass Rapid Transit system to Changi Airport was reconsidered when Terminal 3 of the airport was being built. Earlier plans had long been made for a new line branching off from the existing East–West Line at Tanah Merah, with some conceptual plans showing a tentative route alignment up to the airport along Airport Boulevard, continuing beyond the airport to Changi Point, before turning southwest back towards the city along the eastern coasts. The plans were finally announced by then Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 15 November 1996. However, the new route alignment showed a deviation from previous plans, where the final plan involved in building only the first two stations of Expo, and Changi Airport, the latter being the underground station built between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The alignment of the station at the airport also switched perpendicularly to an east–west direction, such that the station leads to two of the terminals directly from either end of the station. The station's designs were unveiled on 10 February 1998 with construction starting on 29 January 1999. Expo and Changi Airport were opened on 10 January 2001 and 8 February 2002 respectively and operates under a shuttle service. Prior to 22 July 2003, train services from Boon Lay commences after the opening, but were later reverted to shuttle services due to low patronage. On 25 May 2019, it was announced that the Changi Airport Extension would be converted to become part of Thomson–East Coast Line Extension (TELe) by 2040.
Boon Lay and Tuas extension
The Boon Lay extension was first announced by the LTA on 29 December 2004, set to serve residents from the Jurong West Town area and those working in the Jurong Industrial Estate. The two stations, Pioneer and Joo Koon stations, officially opened on 28 February 2009.
On 11 January 2011, the Tuas West extension, an extension of the East–West Line from Joo Koon to Tuas Link was announced. The extension has a span of , which spans a twin-tracked MRT viaduct, four above-ground stations and a depot to provide stabling and maintenance facilities for the additional trains that will be bought for the extension and to cater for future expansion of the line. The viaduct is integrated with part of a road viaduct along Pioneer Road, which will increase the road capacity to cope with anticipated increase in traffic. The stations are Gul Circle, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West Road, and Tuas Link. On 4 May 2012, the Land Transport Authority marked the start of construction of the Tuas West extension with a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future Tuas Link station.
The extension began service on 18 June 2017. During initial stages after opening, the westbound trains will alternate their terminus between Joo Koon and Tuas Link, where for every two trains, one train will terminate at the former, while the other train will terminate at the latter.
In 2025, the LTA announced that 40 stations on the North–South and East–West lines will gain public artworks, as part of expansion of the Art in Transit programme.
Additional platform at Tanah Merah station On 25 August 2014, the Land Transport Authority announced that a new island platform will be constructed at Tanah Merah, enabling faster travel and shorter waiting times for commuters heading towards Expo and Changi Airport on the Changi Airport branch line of the East–West Line.
On 26 October 2016, the Land Transport Authority awarded the civil contract to Lum Chang Building Contractors Pte. Ltd. to build a new platform at Tanah Merah and viaducts for a contract sum of S$325 million. In addition to the new platform, the existing East–West Line tracks will be extended to connect the line to the new four-in-one East Coast Integrated Depot at Changi. When completed in 2025, it will be the second station to have three island platforms side-by-side after Jurong East.
Half-height platform screen door installations There were calls for platform screen doors (PSDs) to be installed at above-ground stations after several incidents in which passengers were killed or seriously injured by oncoming trains when they fell onto the railway tracks at above-ground stations. Underground stations already featured the doors since 1987. The authorities initially rejected the proposal by casting doubts over functionality and concerns about the high installation costs, but made an about-turn later with the government announcing plans to install half-height platform screen doors on the elevated stations by 2012 on 25 January 2008, citing lower costs due to it becoming a more common feature worldwide. Contract C1320 for the design and installation of half-height platform screen doors was awarded to Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited in September 2008 for . They were first installed at Jurong East, Pasir Ris, and Yishun stations in 2009 as trial runs. On 31 August 2011, the LTA announced completion of the installation of PSDs along the East–West Line, with Expo being the last station on the line to receive the PSDs. Installation of PSDs across both the North–South and East–West lines (NSEWL) were completed on 14 March 2012, 3 months ahead of schedule.
Improvement works Timber to concrete sleeper replacement works The timber sleepers on the East–West Line were required to be replaced as they were near the end of their 25-year lifespan. The replacement sleepers, made of concrete, have a significantly longer lifespan. To speed up works, train services on the East–West Line was adjusted to end earlier. The work was divided into three phases: Phase 1 (Bugis – Tanah Merah), Phase 2 (Joo Koon – Jurong East, Tanah Merah – Pasir Ris) and Phase 3 (Jurong East – Outram Park). The sleepers were fully replaced on 18 February 2017.
Re-signalling works A new moving-block signalling system, supplied by Thales, replaced the former ageing fixed-block signalling system on the East–West Line. The new signalling system, costing $195 million, reduces waiting times for trains during peak periods from 120 to 100 seconds. The new system became operational between Pioneer and Tuas Link stations on 18 June 2017. Newer rolling stocks, such as the C151B and C151C, are equipped for use solely on the new signalling system. Since 27 May 2018, the new signalling system has been operating full-day on the entire East–West Line.
Third-rail replacement Replacement works on the third rail, which provides electricity to the trains, were carried out between September 2015 and August 2017. The new third rail replaced its 30-year-old predecessor and is expected to increase reliability of the East–West Line's electrical system.
Pasir Ris turnback extension A new railway turnback located at Pasir Ris station, the eastern terminus of the line, was announced by the Land Transport Authority on 29 Jun 2018. It would extend the railway viaduct past the station by . The turnback will allow for an increase in service frequency during peak times from 30 to 36 trains per hour as trains will be able to change directions faster to head westwards on the line, to meet future increases in ridership demand. Construction started in 2019 and was completed in May 2024.
Future developments
Changi Airport branch merger with the Thomson–East Coast Line
Announced in 2019, the existing branch of the East–West Line between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport will be merged with the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) in the mid-2030s, coinciding with the opening of Changi Airport Terminal 5. The line will continue towards a future station at Terminal 5, before meeting the rest of the line at Sungei Bedok. Works to modify the stations on the branch to be compatible with the TEL began in 2025.
Tuas South extension Gul Circle station, opened in 2017, features two additional unused platforms to serve a planned extension of the line to Tuas South. Plans for the extension were put on hold by March 2019. By July 2026, the railway extension was deemed unfeasible in the short term, and was succeeded by a planned bus rapid transit network at Tuas South.
Incidents 1993 Clementi train collision
On 5 August 1993, before opening, a maintenance vehicle spilt oil on the tracks between Clementi and Jurong East. The first ten eastbound trains reported braking problems, then the eleventh train from Jurong stopped at the Clementi station for two minutes longer than scheduled due to it using its emergency brakes to stop at the station at 7.50 am, before being hit by another eastbound train when it failed to stop in time. 156 passengers were injured by the collision.
7 July 2015 power trip During the evening peak hours on 7 July 2015, train services on the East–West and North–South Lines were temporarily disrupted due to massive power trips detected along both lines. The cause of the disruption was due to damaged insulators which had resulted in the failure of the power supply. For this disruption that brought inconvenience to 413,000 commuters, LTA imposed a 'record' fine of S$5.4 million on SMRT.
22 March 2016 staff fatalities