Ridership on Downtown Line

The following question stood in the name of  Mr Gan Thiam Poh –

To ask the Minister for Transport (a) what is the average ridership on the Downtown Line during the morning and evening peak and non-peak hours since it started operations in December 2013; (b) how much has the Downtown Line helped alleviate the load on the North East Line during the morning and evening peak hours; and (c) whether the Downtown Line has also eased the load on the Circle Line during peak hours.

Mdm Speaker, in reply to the Parliamentary Question from Mr Gan Thiam Poh, the average weekday ridership for the Downtown Line 1 (DTL1) from January till April 2014 was approximately 58,000 passengers daily with about 40% of the passengers travelling during the peak hours.

The DTL1, given its short length, is primarily intended to provide connectivity within as well as into and out of the city area, rather than to alleviate loading on the North East Line (NEL) and Circle Line (CCL). The full DTL, on the other hand, when completed in 2017, will help relieve some of the loading on the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL) as well as some of the crowded interchange stations in the city.

We can expect some relief to the loading on the NEL and the CCL from 2015, when a total of 42 new trains will be added progressively. The fleet capacity of the NEL and the CCL will then increase by up to 70% and 60% respectively.

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