Thomson Line in 2017|alt=Construction of
Woodlands MRT station of the TEL in 2017. The Thomson Line (TSL) was first announced on 25 January 2008. Several architectural and engineering consultancy packages were released in 2010 which indicated an increase in the number of stations from 18 in the initial announcement to the current 22 and length of the line from . On 16 June 2011, LTA announced the location of the depot for the line, which was due to begin construction at the end of 2012. It also announced
Woodlands as an interchange with the existing
North–South Line and an
additional station located near to
Republic Polytechnic. On 29 August 2012, it was announced that the completion of the TSL was pushed back to 2019 onwards instead of the indicative timeline of 2018 announced in the Land Transport Masterplan. Construction of the TSL began in January 2014. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on 27 June that year at
Woodlands. All the working station names were confirmed as the final names except for Sin Ming station which was changed to
Bright Hill.
Eastern Region Line in 2022|alt=Construction site of Marine Parade station on the TEL in 2022 The Eastern Region Line was first announced on 23 October 2001. In its preliminary plans, ERL was to have been a 40 kilometre rectangular loop that would complement the existing
East–West Line and enhance inter- and intra-town travelling in the eastern region. It would have looped around the Jalan Besar and East Coast areas, intersecting the
Circle Line and other lines along the way, benefiting residents in Tampines, Bedok, Marine Parade, MacPherson and Kaki Bukit. The northern part of the Eastern Region Line became the third stage of the
Downtown Line. The southern part of the Eastern Region Line became the East Coast stretch of the Thomson–East Coast Line. Sungei Bedok would become an interchange between the Downtown and the Thomson–East Coast lines. On 11 July 2012,
Josephine Teo, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport, announced that the
Land Transport Authority is starting architectural and engineering consultancy studies for the Eastern Region Line, which will eventually connect to the Thomson Line. The director of rail services from LTA, Melvyn Thong, said on 29 May 2013 at the Modern Railways conference that there are plans to extend the Eastern Region Line to the future
Changi Airport Terminal 4 which was at that time, set to be ready by 2017 but on 1 June that year, the
Land Transport Authority clarified that the Eastern Region Line will not provide an MRT link to the planned Terminal 4. On 30 August that year, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo unveiled plans that it will be linked to the future
Changi Airport Terminal 5, a mega terminal, which will be the largest terminal in Singapore upon completion in the 2030s.
Merging of Eastern Region Line and Thomson Line The Eastern Region Line was merged with the Thomson Line on 15 August 2014 to form the Thomson–East Coast Line, extending the project from three to five stages, with nine more stations. The groundbreaking ceremony for the East Coast stretch took place at
Marine Parade on 21 July 2016. All the working station names, including
Xilin on the Downtown Line Stage 3 extension, were confirmed as the final names except for Amber station which was changed to
Tanjong Katong. The authorities were also considering extending the Thomson–East Coast Line to all terminals at
Changi Airport, including the upcoming Terminal 5, announced Transport Minister
Khaw Boon Wan.
Line operations SMRT Trains Ltd was appointed as the operator of the line on 15 September 2017. On 28 August 2019, the
Land Transport Authority awarded several non-fare businesses along the line, with Asiaray Connect awarded an advertising contract and a consortium, made up of SMRT Experience, JR Business Development SEA and Alphaplus Investments appointed to run retail space. This is the first time the LTA outsourced these non-fare businesses. On 19 September 2019, Transport Minister
Khaw Boon Wan revealed that the opening of the first stage of the Thomson–East Coast Line from
Woodlands North to
Woodlands South stations was delayed to January 2020 from the indicative time of 2019 announced earlier, subsequently confirmed as 31 January 2020. Self-assistance kiosks were installed at all TEL MRT stations and will be rolled out to all stations. On 11 January 2020, SMRT and LTA hosted an open house for the first stage of the line, with the stage opening for revenue service on 31 January 2020. The opening of the second stage was initially delayed to the first quarter of 2021 due to the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic circuit breaker period; the project was subsequently further delayed to the third quarter of 2021. On 30 April 2021, LTA handed over Stage 2 stations along the line to SMRT to get the section ready for operations. On 30 June 2021, Transport Minister
S. Iswaran announced that Stage 2 will open on 28 August 2021. LTA announced on 13 August 2021 that there would be a virtual open house held from 23 to 27 August 2021 since all physical open houses were disallowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 28 August 2021, Stage 2 of the line opened, extending the line from
Woodlands South to
Caldecott. On 23 November 2021, LTA announced that
Mount Pleasant and
Marina South stations will only open when housing developments in these areas are ready, instead of opening as part of Stage 3. On 9 March 2022, Transport Minister S Iswaran announced in Parliament that TEL 3 would open in the 2nd half of 2022. On 17 August 2022, LTA handed over Stage 3 stations along the line to SMRT to get the section ready for operations by the end of 2022. On 7 October 2022, during a visit to the and TEL stations, Transport Minister
S. Iswaran announced that the third stage of the line will commence operations on 13 November 2022. On 13 December 2023, LTA announced that it would hand over Stage 4 stations along the line to SMRT in early 2024, in preparation for the opening of the stations. Acting Minister for Transport
Chee Hong Tat said in an interview with
Lianhe Zaobao that the authorities hope to open the sector in the first half of that year. The Stage 4 stations were handed over to SMRT on 6 February 2024. On 5 March 2024, LTA announced that Stage 4 would open on 23 June that year. A preview of Stage 4 was held on 21 June, with free rides for all 7 stations, with a free shuttle train running from
Gardens by the Bay to
Tanjong Rhu to ferry riders to the Stage 4 stations. On 23 June 2024, the fourth stage of the line opened, extending from
Gardens by the Bay to
Bayshore. On 6 December 2024, it was announced that Stage 5 will commence operation in the second half of 2026.
Airport extension will become the terminus of the Thomson–East Coast Line upon the merger of the East–West Line branch serving
Changi Airport.|alt=Platform of Tanah Merah MRT station which will be the future terminus of the line when the branch to Changi Airport station is converted to be part of the Thomson–East Coast Line. On 25 May 2019, LTA confirmed that it will extend the Thomson–East Coast Line from
Sungei Bedok to
Changi Airport Terminal 5. Construction works to extend the TEL to the existing
Changi Airport MRT station, the eastern terminus of the
East–West Line Changi Airport branch, commenced in 2020. The stretch of East–West Line between
Tanah Merah and
Changi Airport, known as the Changi Airport Line (CGL), will be converted to form part of the TEL extension. The extension was expected to begin construction after 2022. In May 2024, LTA confirmed modification works for the CGL stations will start from 2025 after the contract for addition and alteration works is awarded. In July 2025, a contract worth S$94.3 mil was awarded to Chiu Teng Construction for the modification of the CGL stations to be integrated with the TEL. That same month, the alignment of the TEL extension was unveiled.
Alstom was awarded the contract for the conversion of the CGL signalling system to match the TEL's Urbalis 400
CBTC system the following month. ==Route==