DTL  Downtown MRT Line Laluan MRT Pusat Bandar 滨海市区地铁线 டவுன்டவுன் எம்ஆர்டி வழி
The Downtown Line is coloured blue on system maps.
Overview
Status	Operational (Stage 1) Under testing (Stage 2) Under construction (Stage 3) Under planning (DTL3e)
Owner	Land Transport Authority
Termini	Bukit Panjang Sungei Bedok
Stations	6 (Operational)[1] 16 (U/C) 12 (Under Testing) 2 (Under Planning)
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
Services	1
Operator(s)	SBS Transit DTL[2] (ComfortDelGro Corporation)
Depot(s)	Gali Batu Kim Chuan Changi (Future)
Rolling stock	C951
History
Opened	22 December 2013 (Stage 1) 27 December 2015 (Stage 2) 2017 (Stage 3) 2024 (DTL3e)
Technical
Line length	4.3 km (2.7 mi) (operational)[1] 16.6 km (10.3 mi) (Under Testing) 21 km (13 mi) (U/C) 2.2 km (1.4 mi) (Under Planning)
Character	Underground
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	limit of 80 km/h
Signalling	Siemens Trainguard SIRIUS CBTC
Route map Template:Infobox RDT

The Downtown Line (DTL) is the fifth Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. The 4.3-kilometre (2.7 mi), 6 station Stage 1 of the line opened on 22 December 2013,^[3] with Stage 2 on 27 December 2015^[4][5] and Stage 3 due to open in 2017. The line will connect the North-Western and Central-Eastern regions to the new downtown of Singapore.

The Downtown Line interchanges with the North East Line at Chinatown, with the East West Line at Bugis, and with the Circle Line at Bayfront and Promenade. Future extensions of the Downtown Line will interchange with the North East Line at Little India, with the North South Line at Newton, with the East West Line at Tampines and Expo, with the Circle Line at MacPherson and Botanic Gardens, with the Thomson-East Coast Line at Stevens and Sungei Bedok and with the Bukit Panjang LRT at Bukit Panjang.

This line is the third in Singapore to be entirely underground (apart from the Gali Batu Depot). When fully completed, the line will be about 44 km (27 mi) long with 37 stations and will serve more than half a million commuters daily.^[6] It will also be the longest driverless rapid transit line in Singapore,^[1] surpassing the record set by the Circle Line. Travelling from one end to the other will take around 70 minutes. The line is coloured blue in the rail map.^[2]

History

On 14 June 2005, the Land Transport Authority announced the Downtown Extension of the Circle Line to serve the Downtown at Marina Bay area, where an integrated resort (Marina Bay Sands) and Singapore's second botanical garden (Gardens by the Bay) was to be located. The 3.4-kilometre fully underground line was estimated to cost S$1.4 billion. Construction of the extension began in January 2008. During the construction of the North East Line at Chinatown station, platform provisions were built to facilitate an interchange station.

Stage 2 of the Downtown Line was first conceptualized and announced as the Bukit Timah Line. It was supposedly a 20-kilometre line that would connect the new downtown with the Bukit Panjang, Upper Bukit Timah and Bukit Timah corridor, alleviating the heavy traffic travelling along the sector, but a full route was released. Provisions were provided at Nicoll Highway station which would have seen the line terminating there and interchanging with the Circle Line.^[7] However, the Nicoll Highway collapse and subsequent feasibility works deemed the old station unusable.^[8] The former Downtown Extension of the Circle Line was subsequently amalgamated into the Downtown Line and was revamped as part of Stage 1, a 4.3-kilometre (2.7 mi), 6 station segment connecting Chinatown to Bugis stations.^[1] Stage 2 is now 16.6-kilometre (10.3 mi) long and consists of twelve stations,^[1] including three interchange stations.

Construction for Stage 2 began on 3 July 2009 with a groundbreaking ceremony at Beauty World Station and was scheduled to be completed and opened in end-2015.^[9][10][11]

Stage 3 of the Downtown Line consists of the original Eastern Region Line that was announced in 2001. The route goes from Chinatown to Expo. The station locations and finalized route were unveiled on 20 August 2010.^[12] Stage 3 of the Downtown line will be 21-kilometre (13 mi) long and serve 16 stations.^[1] The completion is set for the first half of 2017.^[13]

A new depot, the Gali Batu Depot, is under construction at part of the former Kwong Hou Sua Teochew Cemetery off Woodlands Road to serve the line.^[14]

In August 2011, SBS Transit won the bid and was appointed to be the operator of the Downtown Line, under a new framework which would see the authority remaining the owner of the line.^[15] Final costs of building the line may reach an estimated S$20.7 billion, up more than 70% from an initial estimation of S$12 billion.^[16] In January 2013, plans for a southern extension which will run from Expo through the East Coast area, interchanging with the Eastern Region Line were announced for completion by 2025.^[17]

On June 2013, the insolvency of Alpine Bau, the contractor for the King Albert Park, Sixth Avenue and Tan Kah Kee stations resulted in Stage 2's opening to be delayed to mid-2016.^[18]

Stage 1 of the Downtown Line began service on 22 December 2013,^[19] with its official inauguration made on the day before by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.^[20]

DTL3e was announced on 15 August 2014, in conjunction with the announcement of the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line.^[21] Two stations, Xilin MRT Station and Sungei Bedok MRT Station will be added to the Downtown Line, with Sungei Bedok as an interchange station with the Thomson-East Coast Line. It will add an additional 2.2 km to the line with the extension.^[21] Due in 2024, Stage 3e will join the current East West and future Thomson-East Coast lines that runs through Marine Parade.^[22]

In October 2014, it was announced that the Stage 2's opening delayed to the first quarter of 2016.^[23] On 28 June 2015, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew announced that the delay caused by Alpine Bau's insolvency in mid-2013 was "completely resolved" by the authorities and Stage 2 opening date goes back to December 2015.^[5]

Stations

Here are the following station locations for all three stages of the Downtown Line.

Rolling stock

The rolling stock consists of Bombardier MOVIA C951 cars,^[24] running in three-car formation. They will be stabled at Gali Batu Depot when it opens with Stage 2 of Downtown Line by December 2015. For the period between the operation of Downtown Line Stage 1 and Downtown Line Stage 2, trains will be stabled at a maintenance facility that was built at Marina Bay as part of the Circle Line project. Kim Chuan Depot will house the Operations Control Centre for the Downtown Line until Gali Batu Depot and Changi Depot is ready to be used.^[25]

On 12 October 2012, the first of 11 trains for the Downtown Line Stage 1 arrived at Jurong Port. It was transported to Kim Chuan Depot to undergo testing by LTA before it was handed over to SBS Transit.^[26] As of 28 February 2013^[update], Bombardier had delivered five of the 11 trains for Downtown Line Stage 1.^[27] LTA together with the operator, SBS Transit, conducted the necessary tests to ensure safety standards, functional performance and systems compatibility requirements were met before revenue service began on 22 December 2013.^[3]

Testing on the Downtown Line Stage 2 has begun during operational hours since 25 October 2015 and rolling stock that was delivered to Gali Batu Depot have commenced service on Stage 1 starting on 21 October 2015, possibly indicating operations to transfer from Kim Chuan Depot to Gali Batu Depot are nearly complete.

Train control

The Downtown Line is equipped with Siemens (previously Invensys before Siemens acquisition) Trainguard SiriusCommunications-based train control (CBTC) moving block signalling system with Automatic train control (ATC) under Automatic train operation (ATO) GoA 4 (UTO).^[28][29] The subsystems consist of Automatic train protection (ATP) to govern train speed, Controlguide Rail 9000 Automatic Train Supervision (ATS) to track and schedule trains and Trackquard Westrace MK2 Computer-based interlocking (CBI) system that prevents incorrect signal and track points to be set.

A fall-back signalling system, relying on conventional track-circuit occupancy detection, is included to ensure fully automatic operation and train protection independent of the radio system.

Automatic platform screen doors by Westinghouse provide safety for passengers, offering protection from arriving and departing trains.

External links

• Downtown Line

References