The station, then named Jurong West, was included in the early plans of the MRT network in May 1982, and would have been built as part of Phase II of the initial MRT system. In March 1986, however, the MRT Corporation (MRTC) said the station was shelved due to delays with
Housing Development Board's (HDB) development plans for the area. The telecommunications cables and antenna farms in the area had to be relocated to facilitate the expansion of Jurong West new town, which was estimated to take six years. As the HDB decided to proceed with development plans after an agreement with Telecoms for them to vacate the site, the MRTC decided on 7 August 1987 to construct the station. The contract for the construction of Boon Lay station and of viaducts was awarded to a joint venture between RSEA International and Hock Lian Seng Engineering in May 1988 for
S$34.19million (US$ million in 2021). The last viaduct beam between Boon Lay and Lakeside was laid on 12 August 1989, marking the end of viaduct works for the initial MRT system. On 10 March 1990, it was announced that the station would open on 6 July. Before the station's opening, the Boon Lay Bus Interchange opened on 1 July to allow more convenient transfers between transport modes. The completion of the initial MRT system and the station's opening was celebrated at a ceremony in Westin Stamford at Raffles City. In 2002, new drop-offs and pick-up points were built at the station as many people were parking or stopping along Jurong West Street 64. In 2012,
half-height platform screen doors was installed at this station as part of the
Land Transport Authority's (LTA) programme to improve safety in MRT stations.
High-volume low-speed fans were installed above the platforms of the station between 2012 and 2013 as part of a national programme to improve ventaliation at station platforms.
Boon Lay Extension Plans for an MRT extension to Tuas or the
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was first announced in 1994. The Boon Lay MRT Extension (BLE) was finalised in December 2004 to serve increased transport demand in Jurong Industrial Estate. Following its completion on 28 February 2009, it was reported that the BLE had relieved crowding at the station as some private bus operators had shifted operations to
Joo Koon station.
Jurong Region Line On 9 May 2018, the LTA announced Boon Lay station will interchange with the proposed
Jurong Region Line (JRL). The station will be constructed as part of Stage 1 (JRL West), consisting of 10 stations from
Choa Chu Kang to
Bahar Junction and two branches to and this station. This stage was expected to be completed in 2026. However, restrictions on construction due to the
COVID-19 pandemic has led to delays, with the completion date pushed to 2027. Due to construction and testing delays, the completion date was further delayed to mid-2028. The contract for the design and construction of Boon Lay JRL station and associated viaducts was awarded to China Communications Construction Company Limited (Singapore Branch) for S$172 million (US$ million) in February 2020. To facilitate the JRL construction, road diversion works for Jurong West Street 64 began in June 2022, alongside the relocation of a bicycle park near the station. Piling works were carried out from August to December 2022. A temporary protection enclosure was installed over the EWL tracks. The assembly of viaduct segments commenced in February 2023. ==Station details==