SINGAPORE: The new Canberra MRT station on the North-South Line will open on Nov 2, Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan announced on Monday (May 20) during a visit to the site.

Located between Sembawang and Yishun stations, Canberra station will be a 10-minute walk away for more than 17,000 households.

“This is expected to save nearby commuters up to 10 minutes in travel time towards the city centre or Jurong East,” said the Land Transport Authority.

To facilitate work, five MRT stations – from Admiralty to Yio Chu Kang – were closed in stages over the Vesak Day weekend. 

A 72m crossover track had to be constructed to connect the existing track to and from the station. The track allows trains to cross from one track to another when the need arises, such as if there is a fault on the track.

On Saturday and Sunday, work was carried out to remove the existing tracks and install the new tracks. Testing and commissioning of the signaling software for the newly installed track was done on Monday, the third and final day the closures.

Train services are expected to resume on Tuesday.

About 75 per cent of the construction for Canberra MRT station has been completed.

“Instead of taking a bus to Sembawang station or Yishun station, we can now just walk over (to Canberra MRT station), and it saves time,” said resident Angeline Tan.

Another resident, Gagan Velappakutty, added that he looked forward to shorter travel times. “Definitely we cut down on the travelling time, we don’t need to take a feeder bus (to other stations), we can just walk over,” he said.

Canberra station is the second MRT station to be built on an existing MRT line, after Dover on the East-West Line.

It will have five entrances, and is the first elevated MRT station to provide commuters with direct access to the city-bound train platform via a link bridge across Canberra Link.

The station will also have sheltered walkways to bus stops and more than 500 bicycle parking lots.