Orchard Boulevard MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit station on the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL). Situated in

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 ...

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, bor ...

, the station is at the end of Orchard Boulevard with Grange Road. Surrounding developments include Camden Medical Centre, JEN by Shangri-La Hotel and various embassies. First announced in August 2012 as part of the Thomson line (TSL), the station was constructed as part of TEL Phase 3 (TEL 3) with the merger of the TSL and the Eastern Region line. The station opened on 13 November 2022. An Art-in-Transit artwork ''PULSE'' by Twardzik Ching Chor Leng is displayed at this station.

History

The station was first announced on 29 August 2012 as part of the Thomson line (TSL). Contract T218 for the design and construction of Orchard Boulevard Station was awarded to KTC Civil Engineering & Construction Pte Ltd at S$143 million (US$ million) in May 2014. Construction started in 2014, with an initial expected completion date of 2021. On 15 August 2014, the

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation of Land Transport Authority Land Transport Authority (LTA) was established on 1 September 1995, f ...

(LTA) announced that the TSL would merge with the Eastern Region line to form the Thomson–East Coast line (TEL). Orchard Boulevard station, part of the proposed line, would be constructed as part of TEL 3, consisting of 13 stations between Mount Pleasant and Gardens by the Bay. With restrictions imposed on construction due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the TEL3 completion date was pushed by one year to 2022. On 9 March 2022, Transport Minister S Iswaran announced in Parliament that TEL 3 would open in the second half of that year. As confirmed during a visit by Iswaran at the and stations on 7 October 2022, the station began operations on 13 November.

Description

Orchard Boulevard station serves the TEL and is between the Napier and

stations. The official station code is TE13. Being part of the TEL, the station is operated by

SMRT Trains SMRT Trains Limited is a rail operator in Singapore and a wholly owned subsidiary of SMRT Corporation. After the privatisation of the MRT operations in 1995, it was originally named Singapore MRT Limited. On 31 December 2001, it was renamed to ...

. Train frequencies on the TEL range from 5 to 6 minutes. The station is located along Orchard Boulevard at the junction with Grange Road and Rochalie Drive. Surrounding landmarks of the station include: Camden Medical Centre, the Chinese embassy, the US embassy, Jen Singapore Tanglin by Shangri-La, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, Tanglin Shopping Centre and Tudor Court Shopping Gallery. ''PULSE'' by Twardzik Ching Chor Leng is a network of industrial-scale pipes that hang over the station concourse. The work is intended to depict the constant circulation of people on the MRT system and its importance in keeping the city alive, paralleling the functions of the human

circulatory system The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

that maintains the flow of nutrients.

References

External links

* {{Singapore MRT stations, thomson=yes Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) stations Railway stations in Singapore opened in 2022