SINGAPORE - Singapore's sixth rail depot, which will be used to stable and maintain trains for the Downtown Line (DTL), will be ready in July.
The completion of the Gali Batu depot in Woodlands will pave the way for the second phase of the DTL to open in the first quarter of next year.
Trains have already been successfully tested to run from the depot to the first four stops on the upcoming 12-station section of the line - Bukit Panjang, Cashew, Hillview and Beauty World.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said during a site visit yesterday that testing will also have to be done to integrate Downtown Line 2 with the first phase of the DTL, a six-station stretch between Bugis and Chinatown which was launched in December 2013. The depot is now in its final stages of completion and will be handed over to operator SBS Transit before the end of the year.
Costing $410 million, the 21ha facility has 14 tracks at the stabling building and can currently hold up to 42 three-car trains. However, berth space will be expanded by November 2019 to park 39 more trains. Last month, the LTA awarded a $137.4 million contract to build these additional train berths, which will add another 4ha to the site.
Apart from train stabling and maintenance for the DTL, the depot will also house an operations control centre, which will monitor, supervise and control operations along the entire line.
It is also the first MRT depot to achieve the Gold Award under the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark certification. Among its various green features is the train workshop which is naturally ventilated and lit with natural light to minimise the use of air- conditioning and lights.
LTA's deputy group director of rail for the Circle Line and DTL Ng Kee Nam said that besides the sheer size of the depot - 1.8km in length and 250m wide - the hilly terrain made construction challenging. The amount of earth excavated can fill more than 1,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The Gali Batu depot is more than twice the size of the last depot, which was built at Kim Chuan in 2008 and is about 11ha. The largest depot is in Bishan and spreads over 30ha.
This article was first published on February 18, 2015.
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