Jurong East Modification Project (JEMP)

This is an old news.

Expanding Capacity for a Shorter Waiting Time

LTA, 11/07/2008, http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_press_content.asp?start=1964

1. Come 2012, with the completion of the Jurong East Modification Project (JEMP), commuters will have a shorter wait for trains along the North-South and East-West Lines and a more comfortable ride during peak periods. JEMP is one of the broad range of initiatives announced under the Land Transport Review in January 2008 to promote public transport as a choice mode.

2. Currently, trains travelling to and from the Jurong East and Bukit Batok stations have to take turns arriving and departing from the shared middle platform at Jurong East station. This slows down the trains running through the Jurong East interchange station. JEMP, which entails adding a new track alignment and platform at the Jurong East interchange station for the North-South MRT Lines, will overcome this infrastructural constraint. As a result, trains can be put through Jurong East station at shorter intervals.

3. Concurrently, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will also add another 17 trains to the North-South and East-West Lines by end 2012 to take full advantage of the shorter train intervals through Jurong East made possible by JEMP.

4. With the completion of the JEMP and the purchase of additional trains (from reliable source, insider from LTA, trains for Circle Line are from France), the carrying capacity of the North-South and East-West Lines will increase. SMRT would be able to run additional train trips, particularly during peak periods, to shorten waiting times and reduce crowding on trains.

5. Mr Yam Ah Mee, LTA Chief Executive said, "MRT ridership has increased significantly over the last decade. JEMP is a timely initiative to meet our travel needs. With JEMP and the additional trains, commuters can look forward to shorter waiting times and a more comfortable journey."

6. Commuters can expect a shorter waiting time of around two minutes at stretches that experience heavy loading during the peak within peak periods, compared to the current 2.5 to 4.5 minutes at some stretches of the North-South and East-West Lines today. JEMP and the additional trains will boost passenger carrying capacity by 15% to ensure a more comfortable ride.

7. Civil works for JEMP are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2009. Measures will be put in place to minimise disruption to commuters using the Jurong East Station as well as residents in the vicinity. For instance, the new 2.5 km viaduct will incorporate precast concrete beams that would be cast off-site.

Have I announced? I live BETWEEN Jurong East station & Bukit Batok station. I wish everybody will be so enthralled with the high arrival frequency of the trains and I would have all the seats in the buses.

Muahahaha...

It's just so weird that the train stations around me are all so near yet so far. The nearest at Bukit Batok is just a 10 minutes' walk away, unfortunately I seldom take the south-bound train towards Woodlands & Orchard. Jurong East is always overflowing with commuters and the need to take a bus to the interchange and to walk to the platform is not worthwhile of my money and effort. The third one under Upper Cross Street will be a mere 30 seconds walk from my office door when it is completed. But taking the train from Upper Cross Street to my home will require two points of transition!

I shall stick to the buses then.