North East Line, Singapore MRT

North East Line Line, Singapore

Theoez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

North East Line of the Singapore MRT is a 20 km long mass rapid transit train line in Singapore. As the name suggests, the line runs on a roughly north-easterly direction. The North East Line is the longest fully underground, automated and driverless rapid transit line in the world. The line has 16 stations of which, at time of writing (May 2010), 15 are operational. The stations are numbered NE1 to NE17. However, at the moment there is no NE2 station, which may only be added in the future. It takes about half an hour to travel the length of the North East Line, which is colour-coded purple.

The North East Line was opened on 20 June 2003. The fare is higher than that of the older lines to compensate for the higher construction cost of S$4.6 billion. 14 stations were in operation during the opening, but due to public pressure, the Buangkok station was eventually opened on 15 January, 2006. The last remaining unopened station station, Woodleigh, is expected to open in August 2011 when the Stamford American International School commenced there.