Singapore Circle Line
Singapore
Client: Singapore Land Transport Authority
Parsons Brinckerhoff Role: Design
Singapore has an underground orbital rapid transit line that whisks riders around the densely populated city, connecting with all other transit lines in the city-state. The final 10-mile (16.6-kilometer) stretch of the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) Circle Line opened on October 8, 2011, marking the completion of one of Singapore's most ambitious engineering projects.
Parsons Brinckerhoff provided architectural and engineering consultancy services to LTA pertaining to architectural, civil, structural, and mechanical/electrical design for Stages 4 and 5 of the line, which includes 11 stations. With the opening of these final stages, the Circle Line is expected to attract a daily ridership of 400,000.
The new line includes six interchange stations—Harbour Front, Buona Vista, Bishan, Serangoon, Paya Lebar, and Dhoby Ghaut—connecting to the East-West, North-South and North-East Lines.
The Circle Line is Singapore's fourth mass rapid transit line and the longest fully automated metro line in the world. It is also the latest completed project in Parsons Brinckerhoff's four-decade involvement in developing Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system. Indicative of its long-term performance for LTA, in 2010 Parsons Brinckerhoff received the Land Transport Excellence Award for Most Innovative Partner and the Land Transport Excellence Award for Best Design Infrastructure Partner for its contributions to the Circle Line.
As the LTA moves ahead with more transit, Parsons Brinckerhoff is providing mechanical/electrical consultancy services for Stages 2 and 3 of the Downtown Line. When completed in 2015 and 2016 respectively, this line will enable direct travel from northwestern and eastern areas of Singapore to the city center.
Phase 2 involves 12 underground stations, three of them interchange stations, for a total route length of 10.4 miles (16.6 kilometers). For Phase 2, Parsons Brinckerhoff is coordinating nine design-build contracts as well as providing project management, design, tender support and construction stage services for the mechanical and electrical (M&E) work for the stations and associated tunnels.
Phase 3 has a total route length of 14.3 miles (23 kilometers) and comprises 16 underground stations (three of which are interchange stations) and a fully underground 66kV electrical substation. The Downtown Line is a fully underground, automatic and driverless line.
The Thomson Line, currently in preliminary design, will run 19 miles (30 kilometers) from Marina Bay in the south, through the city center to the Woodlands in the north. Parsons Brinckerhoff is lead electrical and mechanical consultant for the line's northern section package, which consists of 11 stations (including two station shells) and one depot. The work also involves a comprehensive fire engineering study as well as special elements to enable the stations to be used as civil defense centers.