Circle Line station officially opens in NUS
Circle Line Station Map. Credits: Rina Irfan Roshan
BREAKING NEWS by Sherman Pun
9 October 2011
NUS students can now celebrate ahead of their final examinations as the full opening of the Circle Line offers students greater accessibility to campus.
The new line which officially opened its doors to commuters on Saturday, offers 12 new Mass Rapid Transit stations in addition to the existing 16 that have been in operation since 2010.
An extension comprising of another two stations, Bayfront and Marina Bay, will be scheduled for operation in early 2012, said Minister for Transport, Lui Tuck Yew.
The newly opened Kent Ridge station, located near the National University Hospital and Faculty of Science, will provide students an additional means of transportation to school.
Many students such as Marcus Quek, a fourth-year undergraduate from the science faculty, have been eagerly anticipating the opening of the Kent Ridge station.
“It’s about time the station opened. I’ve been waiting for it for a long time now,” he said. “It will definitely help to cut down my travelling time and also save me some money.”
Students who previously had to take a public bus to campus upon alighting at Buona Vista or Clementi station can now cut down on their travelling expenditure.
However, the huge influx of commuters at Kent Ridge station is expected to cause some congestion to internal bus shuttle services for students heading to other parts of campus.
In response, the Office of Estate and Development recently announced that it will make several improvements to its internal shuttle service.
With effect from Oct. 8, 2011, bus service A1 and A2 will be stopping right outside Kent Ridge station, along Lower Kent Ridge Road, bringing greater convenience for commuters.
Additional buses will also be deployed on weekdays to increase the frequency of service A1 and A2. These measures will help to relieve the congestion resulting from an expected increase in ridership.
“The internal shuttle bus service has been an integral part of the NUS community for many years,” said Foo Tung Mooi, Director of Office of Estate and Development. “We will continue to monitor all the shuttle services and make adjustments accordingly in our commitment towards continuous improvement.”
The Circle Line, which cost close to $10 billion to construct, interlaces the three existing MRT lines and significantly enhances network connectivity in Singapore. NUS transport researcher, Lee Der Horng, commented that before the Circle Line was in place, our MRT system was not really a network as there was a lack of horizontal connections between MRT lines.
With a comprehensive transport network that promises to shave off a portion of our travelling time, it seems NUS students now have one less reason to be late for lessons.