SINGAPORE \u2013 Passengers at the future Changi Airport Terminal 5 can expect to reach Terminal 2 in four minutes via the airport\u2019s new underground link. <\/p>\n
The automated people-mover system \u2013 similar to the existing Skytrain, which serves Terminals 1, 2 and 3 \u2013 will operate at a frequency of four to eight minutes, said Changi Airport Group (CAG) during a media visit on Dec 30 to the tunnels linking the future mega terminal and the existing T2. <\/p>\n
Comprising two carriages, each train will be able to hold up to about 96 passengers, or 48 per carriage, with luggage. <\/p>\n
Two trains \u2013 out of the airport operator\u2019s future fleet of five \u2013 will be operational at any given time during operating hours, which CAG has not decided on. <\/p>\n
The people mover linking T5 and T2 will help transit passengers and others get to the rest of Changi Airport via the Skytrain or shuttle buses. T2 is connected to Terminal 4, which is not served by the Skytrain, via shuttle buses.<\/p>\n
CAG previously said that transit passengers at T5 can <\/p>\n connect to another flight in less than an hour<\/p>\n <\/a>. <\/p>\n In comparison, the existing Skytrain \u2013 available to both travellers and members of the public \u2013 has one to three carriages, which carry up to 50 passengers each, and arrives every one to four minutes between 5am and 2am daily. <\/p>\n With T5 being as big as Terminals 1 to 4 combined, it will allow Changi Airport to serve 140 million passengers yearly \u2013 over 55 per cent more than its present capacity of 90 million \u2013 once it opens in the mid-2030s.<\/p>\n Some 1.7km of the <\/p>\n three underground tunnels<\/p>\n <\/a> between T5 and T2 \u2013 spanning a total of 2.5km \u2013 were completed in October 2024. Two of the tunnels are for the people mover, while the third tunnel is for baggage. <\/p>\n The remaining stretches of tunnel at the ends near T5 and T2 \u2013 where an interchange for the baggage-handling system, as well as the depot and station for the people mover, will be situated \u2013 are still under construction.<\/p>\n The baggage tunnel can facilitate the transfer of up to 3,000 bags an hour between T5 and T2. <\/p>\n By contrast, the baggage system connecting Terminals 1, 2 and 3 can handle more than 2,700 bags an hour, according to the Changi Airport website. <\/p>\n The baggage tunnel between T5 and T2 was Singapore\u2019s largest tunnel dug using giant drilling machines \u2013 known as tunnel-boring machines \u2013 when it was being constructed in 2022, with a diameter of 12.3m. <\/p>\n It has since been overtaken by a tunnel stretch <\/p>\n between Bright Hill and Turf City for the upcoming Cross-Island Line (CRL)<\/p>\n