The good news is that the MRT North-South Line extension will open this year.
The not-so-good news is that visitors to the Marina Bay Cruise Centre are in for quite a walk if they take the train.
The extension was supposed to serve the cruise centre - which is expected to see 530,000 pass through its gates this year - as well as future developments in the area.
But the train station is sited next to the Marina South Pier, where ferries to the southern islands ply, and is at least 600m from the cruise centre. That means a seven- to 10-minute walk.
A spokesman for SATS-Creuers Cruise Services, which operates the cruise centre, was sanguine when asked for comments.
"Cruise passengers will be able to take a scenic and convenient stroll to the new train station under a sheltered walkway," she said.
Community liaison officer Steffie Tan, 29, said she would not mind having to haul her luggage over the distance when heading for a cruise: "I will probably take the train and pull the luggage... Hailing a cab is unnecessary unless I am running late."
But retiree Sia Cheong Yew, 70, said he will probably need to get a taxi.
"I guess the younger people would have no problem if they have reasonable-sized bags," the regular cruise customer said.
Besides saying that it will build covered walkways to link the station and cruise centre, the Land Transport Authority would not comment further.
But the Urban Redevelopment Authority tried to explain why the MRT station could not be nearer the cruise centre.
Its spokesman said the MRT station was built below the Marina South Drive road, "so that it does not constrain the development of any of the future land parcels".
He added that the location of the station was also dictated by the maximum allowable curvature of MRT tracks, as well as the other infrastructures in the area, such as the Marina Coastal Expressway.
In that case, observers believe the station could have been sited in between the cruise centre and pier, which would mean a 300m walk to either facility. Alternatively, the extension could have gone west before looping east to pass the cruise centre and then onwards to the pier.
That way, the extension would also serve the future developments - which will include land relamation west of the cruise centre - that will come after the port is moved.
National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng also wondered if more could have been done at the planning stage to better integrate the MRT line with existing and future developments.
"It is unrealistic to expect visitors to walk under the covered walkway for 600m with their belongings to reach the MRT station even if there are trees, flowers, breeze, whatever along the way.
"Can we imagine that we did the same for Changi Airport?"
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