History
Construction began in June 2000 by a consortium comprising SembCorp Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation, at a cost of S$354 million. Construction of the first phase was completed in June 2004, and underwent testing by the Land Transport Authority. The system was handed over to SBS Transit on 1 December 2004, who conducted more trial runs and staff training before the opening of the East Loop on January 29, 2005.
- East Loop except Oasis, Damai stations: January 29, 2005 opened
- Oasis Station: June 15, 2007 opened
- Damai Station: June 20, 2011 opened
The West Loop will only be opened at a later date when there are more developments within the vicinity of the stations. While provisions have been made for the second phase of the system involving a 4-station northern spur line branching from PW2 Teck Lee, the plan has been put on hold indefinitely.
On 31 October 2012, LTA announced that by 2016, Sengkang and Punggol LRT systems will be upgraded to a two-car system for 16 of the 41 existing train cars, allowing double the number of passengers to board at any one time. Each train car can take up to 105 passengers. Hence, there is also the need to modify the signalling and communication system.
Read more about this topic: Punggol LRT Line
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