The Contract 103 for the construction of Teng MRT station was awarded to a Belgian and Singaporean joint venture on 16 December 1983. This $32,882,507 contract, the first involving cut and cover construction awarded by the MRT Corporation, also includes of tunnels between San Teng MRT station and Braddell MRT station. On 21 September 1984, the MRT Corporation renamed San Teng station to Bishan station to reflect the name of the new housing estate that was being built around this MRT station. Bishan MRT station was completed on 23 October 1985 and was one of the first MRT stations on the network to be opened for service on 7 November 1987.
Circle MRT line
The Contract C825A for the design, construction and completion of Bishan interchange station was awarded to Econ Corporation Ltd and Eng Lim Construction Co Pte Ltd Joint Venture at a sum of S$82.2 million in July 2003. Major alterations were performed on the original North South line station to be linked to the Circle line. A new air-conditioned southbound platform to serve the southbound trains was officially opened by the then Minister for Transport, Raymond Lim on 27 July 2008. The original platform is now dedicated to only northbound train services. A wall now separates the southbound tracks and the northbound platform, and southbound train doors no longer open on the right towards the old platform. The Circle line platforms were opened on 28th of that month along with the other CCL stage 3 stations. Due to the close proximity of a nearby tunnel portal to residential apartment blocks, the construction of a two-metre tall barriers stretching 180 metres in length started in September 2011 and was completed by the second quarter of 2012. It is insulated with noise absorptive materials such as rock wool.
Incidents
On 28 July 2004, a 31 year old accountant died after falling on the track in front of an oncoming train at this station, disrupting train services on the northbound MRT line for an hour. Another such incident happened to an elderly man on 15 September that year. On 7 October 2017, water got into a section of the tunnel between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations during a heavy downpour in the afternoon, which disrupted train services along 13 stations on the North South line for several hours. This case of water entering MRT tunnels is believed to be the first time it has affected train service along the NSL. Separately, at about 5.55pm, a small fire was spotted trackside in the tunnel between the Marina Bay and Raffles Place stations, but it had died down by itself. It is not clear if it is linked to the flood, although electrical short circuits caused by water had sparked tunnel fires before. Train services between Marina South Pier and Newton were restored on the day itself at about 9.20pm. Train services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio were fully resumed at 1.36pm the following day after overnight efforts to clear the water in the tunnel, after nearly 21 hours of service disruption, being one of the worst disruptions in SMRT Trains Ltd's history. It was revealed that the overflowing in the tunnel was caused by a malfunction in the water pumping system, which has since been repaired. During the coronavirus epidemic in Singapore, a Singaporean female worker at Bishan MRT station was infected with the virus.
Station details
Art in Transit
The Circle line section of this station displays the Art in Transit artwork Move!. There are three murals created by Soh Ee Shaun depicting landmarks that residents of the Bishan area identify with.
Cultural impact
Being located on the former site of the Peck San Theng cemetery, the station is rumoured to be haunted, and has been the subject of several Singaporean urban legends, as well as the site for alleged ghost encounters. A 1988 article in The New Paper mentioned rumoured sightings of headless ghosts at the station. The Sunday Times ran an article debunking an urban legend associated with the station, along with an article featuring an account by a passenger who claimed that, while riding on a train passing through the station one morning in the early 1990s, she was groped by several unseen hands before passing out. She was later revived by fellow passengers. There are also other alleged encounters of ghosts and other entities by several passengers in and around the station, such as headless figures, footsteps coming from the roof of the train, and phantom passengers who do not cast reflections on the train windows.
