Speech by Minister Khaw Boon Wan at the Canberra MRT Station Opening Ceremony

1.     Thank you for joining us today to open Canberra Station. It is Singapore’s 139th MRT station, NS12. Residents in Yishun and Sembawang have waited for this station to open for many years. It was not a secret that we would eventually build Canberra Station as Sembawang and Yishun Stations were numbered NS11 and NS13 respectively. For 30 years, the Canberra Station existed only on paper. Let me use this occasion to explain our planning approach.

2.     Transport planning is integrated with urban planning. While different planning agencies are involved, our common aim is to ensure that residential, commercial, office and industrial developments are well served by an efficient rail network. As each MRT line is a multi-billion-dollar investment, we take a conservative and prudent approach. It is evidence-based and very much numbers-driven. Each new project must clear objective benefit and financial hurdles. We project commuter traffic, and estimate capital and running cost for each line and for each station. We estimate time-savings for commuters, conduct surveys to derive probability of switch in transport mode, analyse the mass of data and draw insights. After a new line opens, we subject our projections to actual data review. Re-look at the data again when the travel pattern for the line stabilises and refine our projection model. As you can see, it is a laborious but interesting piece of operations research routinely done by our transport planners and engineers. We do so seriously, because we have a heavy responsibility to minimise the burden on both taxpayers and commuters. We seek to avoid poor utilisation and unnecessarily high operating costs. We certainly do not welcome white-elephant MRT stations.

3.     This was why we did not build Canberra Station until sufficient number of residential projects had been launched nearby. Last few weeks, I visited the residents nearby. They were all looking forward to the new Station. The students are especially thrilled. They can now get out of bed much later!

4.     Let me thank the residents for bearing with the noise, dust and traffic diversions in the last few years. You can now enjoy the fruits of your patience – seamless travel to the city and appreciation in your property value. More than 17,000 households are within a 10-minute walk to this station. It is now just a short 30-minute ride from here to Marina Bay.

5.     The new Station has incorporated many latest designs to serve you better. For example, this will be the first station where residents connect directly to the ticketing platform via an overhead bridge. The latter is lined with shops and connected to Canberra Plaza at the other end. I hope there will be childcare facilities at Canberra Plaza as many residents are working couples with young children!

6.     Let me also thank LTA and the contractors for this project. This was a complex project because the station was built over a ‘live’ MRT line. The contractors were especially proud of their zero-casualty record. Congratulations!

7.     Finally, Canberra Station is the first MRT station to be awarded the highest Platinum rating for BCA’s new Green Mark for Transit Stations. It has many green features, including energy efficient air conditioning and lighting systems. They help reduce the cost of station operations, and keep train fares affordable.

8.     Thank you for joining us today for this happy event.