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Somerset MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North South Line in
The station was built as part of the first phase of construction of the MRT system. Initially named Killiney, the station was renamed to its current name in November 1982 after Somerset Road, which runs above it. In January 1984, a joint venture between Borie SAE, Cogefar SPA, Traylor Bros and Ong Chwee Kou Building Contractors secured Contract 106A, the S$39.2 million contract to build Somerset station, since the joint venture was already handling construction of the tunnels adjacent to the station.
To facilitate the station's construction, the
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...
, Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. It is one of the three stations located along the popular shopping belt, Orchard Road
Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...
.
The station connects to Comcentre
Comcentre is a 32-storey, skyscraper in the Central Region of Singapore. It was completed in 1981, and is tied with One Raffles Quay South Tower and Pan Pacific Singapore as the 82nd-tallest building in the city-state.
The building is the corpo ...
, Singapore Power Building
111 Somerset is a high-rise commercial building and shopping mall in Orchard, Singapore. The building was first known as Public Utilities Board Building (PUB Building) until 1995, and was later known as Singapore Power Building until 2008 when a ...
, Skate Park
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...
, 313@Somerset, Orchard Gateway
Orchard Gateway (stylized as orchardgateway) is a shopping mall in Orchard Road, Singapore, connecting Orchard Central and 313@Somerset together next to Somerset MRT station. The mall was meant to be completed in November 2013, but was delayed a ...
, Orchard Central
Orchard Central is a shopping mall in Singapore located along the main shopping belt at Orchard Road. It sits on the land previously occupied by an open air carpark and has a 160m frontage along Orchard Road. It was officially opened on 2 July 20 ...
, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
Cathay Cineleisure Orchard is an urban mall located at 8 Grange Road, Singapore. The building is managed by Cathay Organisation under its subsidiary company of Cathay Cineleisure International.
Background
The mall opened in October 1997 on the ...
, Centrepoint Shopping Centre
The Centrepoint is a shopping mall in Singapore which opened in 1983 as Centrepoint Shopping Centre (or just Centrepoint) until its renaming in 2006 as The Centrepoint.
History
The Centrepoint is managed by Frasers Property, which is a wholl ...
, Mandarin Orchard, The Heeren, Faber House, Orchard Point, Peranakan Place and Emerald Hill.
Opened in 1987, Somerset station was part of the early plans for the original MRT network since 1982. It was constructed as part of Phase I of the MRT network. Following the network's operational split, the station has been served by the North South line since 1989.
History
The station was built as part of the first phase of construction of the MRT system. Initially named Killiney, the station was renamed to its current name in November 1982 after Somerset Road, which runs above it. In January 1984, a joint venture between Borie SAE, Cogefar SPA, Traylor Bros and Ong Chwee Kou Building Contractors secured Contract 106A, the S$39.2 million contract to build Somerset station, since the joint venture was already handling construction of the tunnels adjacent to the station.
To facilitate the station's construction, the Urban Redevelopment Authority
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore.
Mission
The authority was established on 1 Apri ...
(URA) requisitioned the Ng Teow Yhee Building, which was located within the station site, in 1983,and Somerset Road was diverted in October 1984. Somerset station was opened on 12 December 1987 as part of the extension of the MRT network from Toa Payoh
Toa Payoh (, ta, தோ பாயோ) is a planning area and matured residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catc ...
to Outram Park
Outram is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area is bordered by these planning areas: Singapore River to the north, the Downtown Core to the east and south, and Bukit Merah to the west.
...
.
Construction of the lifts started in 28 June 2000 and were completed on 11 July 2002. Exit B of the station was heavily renovated from January 2007 to July 2009. An additional entrance, Exit D, was opened in conjunction with Orchard Gateway
Orchard Gateway (stylized as orchardgateway) is a shopping mall in Orchard Road, Singapore, connecting Orchard Central and 313@Somerset together next to Somerset MRT station. The mall was meant to be completed in November 2013, but was delayed a ...
on 25 April 2014 along with Exit C which also connects to Orchard Gateway.
Station details
The station is located under Somerset Road and is near landmarks such as Orchard Central, 313@Somerset, Comcentre, the Centrepoint and111 Somerset
111 Somerset is a high-rise commercial building and shopping mall in Orchard, Singapore. The building was first known as Public Utilities Board Building (PUB Building) until 1995, and was later known as Singapore Power Building until 2008 when a ...
. It is served by the North South Line, between Orchard and Dhoby Ghaut stations, and has the station code NS23.
Somerset station was designed to function as a bomb shelter, and was fitted out with blast doors and thick walls of reinforced concrete to withstand bomb impacts. Plants grown with the aid of hydroponics
Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plan ...
were planted in the station for aesthetic purposes. and the station has a wall mural by local artistes Leo Hee Tong and Ho Ho Ying.
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset MRT station 1987 establishments in Singapore Orchard Road Orchard, Singapore Railway stations opened in 1987 Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) stations