New Circle Line stations cut commuter travel times

Koh will be able to take an eight-minute bus ride from his home to Haw Par Villa MRT station, followed by a train journey on the CCL to Esplanade MRT station, which will take 22 minutes. The journey ends with an eight-minute walk to Bras Basah Complex, bringing the total travel time to an estimated 38 minutes.

The Straits Times interviewed 20 passengers in the past week on how the opening of the three stations would improve their journeys.

Ephraim Tan, who is doing national service, will also benefit from the new stations. When visiting City Hall weekly for leisure, he goes through 12 MRT stops, taking the CCL from Pasir Panjang to Buona Vista, before switching to the EWL to City Hall. The journey, including waiting and walking time, usually takes him 45 minutes.

With the new CCL stations, he will reach City Hall in nine stops by travelling on the CCL from Pasir Panjang to Marina Bay, before transferring to the North-South Line (NSL) to City Hall. This reduces his travel time to 18 minutes, excluding waiting time. “It definitely makes things much more convenient and saves time for a lot of the commutes I make on the weekends due to the better connectivity with the NSL and Downtown Line,” the 19-year-old said.

Agnes Heng, 65, who lives two blocks away from the new Cantonment station, said her family is “very excited for it to open”. Said the retired bank manager: “The main benefit is not having to walk (much).”

She currently takes 10 minutes to walk to the nearest MRT station, Outram Park. She said it would be more convenient to visit her three daughters weekly in Woodleigh, Bedok Reservoir and Redhill.

The new CCL stations will also open up more weekend destinations for commuters who were previously deterred by long travel routes.

Muhammad Firdaus Mohamad Radzi, 35, said he plans to visit VivoCity shopping complex on the weekends, as he can take a shorter direct ride on the CCL from his home near Paya Lebar station to HarbourFront station.

At present, the pharmacy technician seldom visits VivoCity as the direct CCL route requires a 19-stop ride around the top arc of the loop. With the new extension, this will be reduced to 11 stops.

Apart from shorter travel times, commuters will also pay lower fares on certain routes.

MRT fares are calculated based on the shortest possible distance between the origin and destination stations, regardless of the actual route taken by a commuter or the travel time, said the Public Transport Council (PTC).

With the opening of the three stations, some journeys will have shorter-distance routes, resulting in lower fares, the council added.

“Commuters do not incur additional cost even if they decide to take a longer route than the shortest-distance path between an origin and destination station, as commuters may have their preferred travel route,” PTC said.

“However, commuters are charged an additional $2 rail overstay penalty if they remain within the rail network longer than two hours, which is more than sufficient to complete any rail journey in our rail network.”

Before the opening of the new CCL stretch, the public can preview and ride for free between the three stations on July 4, from 9.30am to 9pm.