Singapore to have MRT link to airport

Singapore to have MRT link to airport

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore will introduce a mass rapid transit (MRT) line to Changi Airport to cope with the increasing number of passengers using the world-class airport, a report said yesterday.

Deputy Premier Lee Hsien Loong said the government would build the MRT line at a cost of between S$700 to S$800 million (US$500 to $571 million), the Straits Times reported.

The 6.4-kilometer (four-mile) line, an extension of the island's existing MRT network, would be completed in 2001, Lee said.

The Changi line will run partly on a viaduct and partly underground. The airport station will be underground and located near its two terminals.

When the extension is completed, it will take about 27 minutes to get to the airport from the City Hall station, compared with a 40-minute bus journey now.

Lee said the extension, expected to have a daily ridership of 36,000 initially, would be viable partly because of the anticipated increase in the number of passengers using Changi Airport.

He also said that by 2002, the government would have spent more than S$12 billion on the MRT and light rail transit (LRT) networks spanning the 647.5-square-kilometer (about 250-square- mile) island.

"This is a huge capital expenditure. But is worthwhile, because of the longer-term benefits the MRT and LRT have for the economy and for the quality of life of our citizens," he said.

Lee said that "without the MRT, Singapore would be in danger of becoming like Los Angeles, a city designed more for roads and cars than for people."

Major airports linked to the city by rail or MRT line are the Atlanta airport in Georgia, in the United States, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Narita Airport in Tokyo.

Airports under construction in the region, such as Sepang Airport in Malaysia and Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong will also have rail links.