SINGAPORE: Constructing the soon-to-open Hume station posed unique engineering challenges, including the need for workers to manually transport some construction materials 700m on a track trolley from the adjacent Hillview station.
The station’s integration into the Downtown Line (DTL) was further complicated by strict testing limitations. Engineers had only a narrow window between 1am and 3am – outside passenger service hours – to conduct tests with trains.
Hume station is the first underground station in Singapore built while trains continued running through the site. Located between the operational Hillview and Beauty World stations, it was initially constructed as a “shell station” – a structure with only the basic framework – during the DTL’s second phase in 2015.
The pace of developments and ridership growth in the area did not warrant its opening at the time, said then-Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary in 2019.
Work to fully equip the station for operations began in January 2021, and Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat announced last month that the station will open ahead of schedule on Feb 28.
Source: CNA
