Kim Chuan Depot

History

In June 2002, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) awarded the contract to build the underground Kim Chuan Depot to a joint venture between Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure and Hock Chuan Ann Construction for . By then, excavation for the depot was almost finished; it was expected for the depot to be completed by 2006. Kim Chuan Depot was to be part of Phase 2 of the CCL, a 5 km route of 5 stations from Stadium Boulevard to Upper Paya Lebar Road and Bartley Road. Structural provisions were made for commercial and residential developments above the depot.

To facilitate the construction of the depot, part of the Kim Chuan Village was acquired in September 2000 for the construction of the depot and the road viaduct. The Kim Chuan Road was permanently closed from Hougang Avenue 3 to Kim Chuan Drive on 27 June 2002. On 25 October 2002, part of the Hougang Avenue 3 was realigned and on 25 November 2002, part of the Kim Chuan Road was closed.

The project cost S$297 million to construct and 2.1 million cubic metres of soil had to be excavated for its construction. Touted as the world's biggest underground depot, it officially opened on 4 March 2009, employing 300 staff members.

The depot was used for the temporary storage and light maintenance of rolling stock for the Downtown Line, before the completion of the Tai Seng Facility Building. It also provided a route in which Downtown Line trains can be towed from the depot to its operational line via the Circle Line tracks. Once the main depot, Gali Batu Depot was completed with stage 2 of the Downtown Line, Kim Chuan Depot simply provides a route for newly delivered Downtown Line trains to be transferred in to the Tai Seng Facility Building.

Design

The depot has a capacity to stable 70 trains and covers an area of more than 100000 m2, reaching a depth of up to 24 m at some points. Specifically, the main depot floor is 800 m in length, 160 m in width, and 23 m in height. The facility contains the main operation control centre for the Circle Line, maintenance facility, stabling areas, and ancillary facilities such as the train wash and workshops. It also houses an automatic storage and retrieval system, a warehouse that stores spare parts for the rolling stocks and other equipments. The depot is connected to the adjacent Tai Seng Facility Building on the east side of the facility and is operated in tandem with the Tai Seng Maintenance Facility.

The depot is accessible via an administration building along Kim Chuan Road, containing offices, a warehouse, a canteen and a 66 kilovolt substation is located above the depot. The remaining 3 ha of land left empty will be used for light industrial use with buildings on it up to 9 storeys high. The depot is located between Tai Seng station and Bartley station on the Circle Line and has 4 reception tracks: 2 tracks clockwise-bound towards Tai Seng station and 2 tracks anticlockwise-bound towards Bartley station.

Extension

On 29 October 2015, LTA announced the extension of Kim Chuan depot in tandem with the Circle Line stage 6 extension. The extension called for the depot to be expanded underground to almost double its land area and stabling capacity from 70 to 133 trains. The integrated depot will also house 550 buses on the plot of land above the underground train depot.

The Contract 821A for the construction of Kim Chuan Depot extension and its associated facilities was awarded to Woh Hup (Private) Limited at a sum of S$1.21 billion in September 2017. Construction began in 2018, and is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

The expanded section is located to the north of the Bartley Road East viaduct, opposite the road from the original site.

References

References

1. "Factsheet: Downtown Line 3 to Open on 21 October 2017".
2. Tan, Christopher. (29 June 2002). "LTA awards $1b worth of contracts for Circle Line, KPE". [[The Straits Times]].
3. (28 October 2003). "Room to develop at new Circle MRT Line depot". [[The Straits Times]].
4. Shereena Sajeed. (4 March 2009). "World's largest underground depot opens in Singapore". Channel News Asia.
5. "Kim Chuan Depot".
6. "T.Y. Lin International Group {{!}} News {{!}} T.Y. Lin International's Singapore Office Awarded Design and Engineering Consultancy Services Contract for Circle Line (Stage 6) Depot".
7. (5 March 2020). "Joint Release by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) & SLA - Circle Line 6 – Becoming A Full Circle".
8. (5 March 2020). "Biggest underground train depot set to become even bigger, Transport News & Top Stories - The Straits Times".
9. (5 March 2020). "First Circle Line 6 contracts worth S$1.75b awarded by LTA - CNA".
10. Sajan, Chantal. (25 February 2022). "Singapore underground: High-tech construction at Kim Chuan Depot Extension". [[The Straits Times]].