Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded the first civil contract for Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) (East Coast stretch) to Samsung C&T Corporation to construct Marine Parade station and its associated tunnels for a contract sum of approximately S$555 million.

Samsung C&T Corporation was previously involved in the construction of North-South Line Marina South Pier station and Downtown Line 1 Telok Ayer station. The contractor is currently involved in the construction of Downtown Line 3 Expo and Tampines East stations, as well as TEL Caldecott station that interchanges with the Circle Line.

Construction works for Marine Parade station and its associated tunnels are expected to start by the first quarter of 2016 and targeted to complete in 2023. When TEL is completed, commuters in the eastern part of Singapore will be linked directly to the north.

The 13-km East Coast stretch of the TEL will connect commuters living in the eastern parts of Singapore and who are not directly served by the rail network currently, such as those in Tanjong Rhu, Siglap, Marine Parade, Upper East Coast and Bedok South, to the heart of the city. As part of the 43-km long TEL, the East Coast stretch will also connect commuters to the Thomson stretch of the TEL, which serves the north-south corridor. The East Coast stretch will have nine stations, including a station which interchanges with the Downtown Line at Sungei Bedok.

The East Coast stretch of the TEL will be completed in two stages. The first seven stations from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore will be ready in 2023, while the remaining two stations will be completed in 2024.