http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...s-own-20150306

Long Hill's long wait for MRT station of its own

Bukit Panjang looks to end transport blues with train link due in 2016

Published on Mar 6, 2015 2:25 AM

By Samantha Goh And Miranda Yeo


IN OTHER housing estates, commuters are helped onto trains during rush hours. In Bukit Panjang, the ushering of commuters takes place at a bus stop.

"During peak hours, there are uniformed personnel who actually push you onto the buses," said Singapore Management University (SMU) student Chong Su-lynn, 22, who takes the bus to SMU from the town in the north-west.

Welcome to Bukit Panjang, an estate of about 120,000 on the edge of Upper Bukit Timah Road, one left behind by the MRT.

Many residents rely on bus services to go to and from town, unlike commuters elsewhere. Said civil servant Serene Liew, 25: "It can be a lonely journey home sometimes after going out to meet my friends, because most of them take the train home instead of the bus."

The town's name - long hill in Malay - reflects the area's ridges and it has retained a touch of the rustic. A row of shophouses, some decades old, lines one edge along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

Some older HDB blocks, such as those in Saujana Road near a stormwater pond, were built with varying heights within the same block to look like the terraced padi fields in Bali.

In recent years, Bukit Panjang has housing blocks that sport a more modern design - in Segar and Senja in its north - as well as additions such as its first swimming pool, which opened in 2011 at Senja-Cashew Community Club.

It is home to Beacon Primary - one of those designated as FutureSchools, or test-beds for classroom technology.

But it is still best known for its transport blues. Not only is it not hooked up to the MRT like most estates, but it also suffers from frequent breakdowns of the LRT that plies in two loops within the town's confines.

It was the first town to have the LRT in 1999, but the hilly terrain has hindered its smooth running, said its Parliament representative Liang Eng Hwa, an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

The LRT system, which is designed for simple tracks, is forced to make complex turns and go up and down hills, as it was built about a decade after the town's buildings.

Unlike other satellite towns, Bukit Panjang's irregular infrastructure hinders effective traffic planning, he added.

Since 1999, the town's LRT has had more than 150 incidents and disruptions, from carriages stopping in the middle of the track to trains passing a station without stopping, or doors opening while the carriages are still moving. In 2002, a wheel fell off, leading to a five-day shutdown.

But the town will get its own MRT station by next year, and Mr Liang said it would be a "game changer". The MRT station will be the last stop on the western end of the Downtown Line, going into town via Newton or Bugis.

Meanwhile, residents take the lack of an MRT station in their stride. A 61-year-old housewife who gave her name only as Madam Kwong said transport was not an issue. "There's a bus to go everywhere, and it's also much more convenient than the LRT."

Security officer Mani Veloo, 68, who has lived in Bukit Panjang for 27 years, said the district has seen many improvements in public transport over the years.

"In the past, there was only one service - No. 5 - along Upper Bukit Timah Road. Now as our town becomes more populated, we have more than 10 bus services within walking distance," he said.

Mr Lew Zi Jian, a communications undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University, who has been living there for all of his 25 years, said it was a misconception that it was ulu (remote in Malay). "It is a town most accessible by bus, but most people insist on coming by train or asking me what the nearest MRT station is, to which my reply would be Choa Chu Kang, which is really far from Bukit Panjang," he said.

When the Ministry of Transport introduced 500 new buses to ease bus crowding across the island last year, about 100 of them went to Bukit Panjang GRC.

Residents said the new buses have helped, though some feel waiting times are still too long.

Mrs Tan Poo Tin, 59, a housewife, said: "Some days, I can wait up to half an hour just for a single bus to show up at the (temporary) interchange, whereas at other times, three buses of the same number can show up at once."

Many cannot wait for the opening of the upcoming transport hub, made up of the bus interchange and the new MRT station.

The 80-year-old owner of a paint shop in Upper Bukit Timah Road, who gave his name only as Mr Koh, said: "Although we're in a housing estate, the lack of a proper parking area or many convenient buses nearby puts our shop in an inconvenient location."

Mr Koh, who has been working in Bukit Panjang for nearly 60 years, added: "We're now waiting for the new Downtown Line, because it will definitely help to improve our business.

"We've been waiting 10 to 20 years for it now."

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