Gul Circle MRT station


Gul Circle MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit station along the East West Line located at the boundary of the planning areas of Tuas and Pioneer, Singapore.
Gul Circle station is the only above-ground station on the MRT network where the eastbound and westbound platforms are not located on the same level.

History

The idea of the extension was first mooted on 25 January 2008 with the extension proposed to be completed by 2015.
The stations were first announced on 11 January 2011 by Transport Minister Mr Raymond Lim in a speech during a visit Bedok.
The Contract 1668 for the design and construction of Tuas Station and of elevated MRT viaducts was awarded to Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd at a sum of S$190 million on November 2011. Construction started at the end of 2011, with completion in 2016. A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Tuas West extension was held on 4 May 2013.
The opening of the station was delayed from 2016 to the second quarter of 2017 to make way for the installation of the new signalling system. It became fully operational on 18 June that year.
Train services between Gul Circle and Tuas Link temporary ceased between 16 and 19 November 2017 following a collision that happened at Joo Koon. On 20 November 2017, train services from Gul Circle to Tuas Link were resumed; however, train services between Joo Koon and Gul Circle will be suspended till mid-2018 to facilitate maintenance work on signalling devices. During the suspension, train services are as follows, with the exception of Sunday signalling trials which have commenced on 29 April 2018:
From 28 May 2018 onwards, trains once again ran through from Pasir Ris to Tuas Link and vice versa, after the transition to the CBTC Moving Block system.

Design

This station ceiling is above ground - about the height of a 10-storey HDB block, the highest elevated station along the MRT network. There are two reasons for the height. Firstly, the 7.5 km, $3.5 billion extension goes over the Ayer Rajah Expressway viaduct at the Pan-Island Expressway interchange. Secondly, a portion of the line is integrated with a road viaduct, which runs below the rail line.
The station is built with two extra tracks opposite the operational EWL tracks, for cross-platform interchange with a future two-station extension of the line to Tuas South. However, on 7 March 2019, the Government announced that Tuas South did not have enough ridership in the near to medium term to support an MRT line.