The East Coast Integrated Depot is the world’s first integrated depot in Changi, Singapore that features three train depots and one bus depot within a single site. The construction of this depot is in full swing and is slated to open in 2025.While looking for alternative ways to build depots cost-effectively, without compromising land use, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) worked with the Changi depot contractors and came up with an efficient and economical design. Let’s check out the details of the Changi depot below:
• The Changi depot is a $2 billion project that occupies a 36ha plot in Upper Changi Road East. It is being built next to the existing 25ha single-level Changi Depot which houses trains from the East-West MRT line.
• This is a multi-level depot in Singapore. It will house trains from three lines – East-West (on the second level), Thomson-East Coast (first level) and Downtown (basement).A four-level bus depot incorporating a workshop is located next to it.
• By stacking three train depots above one another, LTA has been able to save 44 hectares of land in land-scarce Singapore.
• Changi East Depot will be constructed as part of Contract CR101 – Design and Construction of Changi East Depot, which was awarded to China Jingye Engineering Corporation Limited (Singapore Branch) at a value of $1.05 billion in May 2021.
• Careful planning of the depot resulted in a structurally efficient and economical design that allows sharing of facilities. The total stabling capacity of the integrated depot is around 220 trains.
Benefits of the East Coast Integrated Depot
The integrated depot at Changi presents benefits on two fronts:
• Firstly, it uses less land and releases valuable land for other important uses and
• Secondly, the stacked design of three train depots has been constructed using the same set of foundations, leading to a structurally efficient and economical design.
Downtown Line trains are using the Gali Batu Depot in Woodlands while Thomson-East Coast Line trains berth at the Mandai Depot. The Mandai Depot is operated by SMRT, the leading transport operator in Singapore. Together with LTA, SMRTis building a Rail Discovery Centre (RDC) at Mandai Depot.
At all depots, SMRT is looking after environmental sustainability initiatives led by its Energy, Water, Green and Waste Committees. SMRT is planning to increase solar energy generation capacities at our main depots by more than 30 per cent by the end of 2022. SMRT Chairman, Seah Moon Ming, said, “Solar photovoltaic systems installed in our depots convert sunlight to electricity, thereby reducing 1,800 tonnes of carbon footprint annually.We also aim to reduce water usage across our premises by 10 percent every year till 2025. Currently, recycled water is being used at six train washing plants, saving approximately 8,000,000 litres of water per year. We minimise, reuse, and recycle waste, and dispose of toxic waste responsibly.”
Conclusion
The construction of the East Coast Integrated Depot (ECID) is in full swing. When completed, LTA will transfer operations from the current Changi East-West Line depot to ECID. The current Changi Depot will eventually be decommissioned and demolished.
About the Author
Chloe Tay
Chloe works as a design architect and is involved in the design and specifications of construction projects. She loves to share her views about design marvels with people around the world. When she is not working or writing, Chloe loves to discover old architectural sites and museums.
