Chinese Garden MRT station
EW25
Chinese Garden
裕华园
சீனத் தோட்டம்
EW25
Preceding station | Mass Rapid Transit | Following station | ||
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Jurong East towards Pasir Ris | East–West Line | Lakeside towards Tuas Link |
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Chinese Garden Chinese Garden station in Singapore |
Chinese Garden MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East–West line in Jurong East, Singapore. Operated by SMRT Trains, the station primarily serves the Yuhua residential estate, as well as various tourist attractions of the Jurong Lake District such as the Chinese Garden, where the station derives its name from.
It was first announced in October of 1983 to be part of Phase II of the MRT system as Jurong Lake station, later being changed to Chinese Garden station to better reflect its location. It commenced operations on November 5, 1988, along with the other stations on the Jurong stretch of the EWL. When it opened, the station lacked direct access to Chinese Garden despite being next to it, as well as to the opposite side of the road where most of its commuters lived. Both issues were fixed within a few years. Half-height platform screen doors and high-volume low-speed fans were installed by March 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, respectively.
Built with an island platform, the station's curved roof supported by decorative red and green beams took inspiration from traditional Chinese architecture. Additionally, there are four paintings created by students from the Yuan Ching Secondary School that feature traditional Chinese cultural icons, which are displayed at the ticketing concourse as a part of SMRT's Community Outreach Programme.
The station was first announced to be on the East-West Line (EWL) of Phase II of the MRT system in October 1983 as Jurong Lake MRT station.[3] It was later changed to Chinese Garden station in September of 1984 to tentatively better reflect its location.[4]
The station's viaduct was built by a joint venture between the Aoki Corporation and Lim Kah Ngam Construction for S$64.75 million (US$48.32 million) in November of 1985 as a part of Contract 404.[5] The subcontract for the supply of post-tension cables and pre-cast beams for the viaducts was awarded to Swiss-Singaporean company VSL Systems in July of 1986[6] while the design of the station's Chinese-style roof was awarded to Parson Brinckerhoff Asia Ltd and Maunsell Consultants in September 1985 as a part of a S$3.6 million (US$2.69 million) contract to give the Phase II MRT stations an "ethnic touch".[7] A week before the opening, there was an open house event for the Jurong stretch of the EWL, which included Chinese Garden station.[8] The station was opened on 5 November 1988, as part of the first portion of Phase II of the MRT system.[9] There was a primary school band performing in the station as a part of the opening ceremony.[10]
Upon its opening, the station had a number of issues. Firstly, despite its name, the station had no actual direct access to Chinese Garden, forcing commuters to alight at Lakeside station and either take a bus or walk 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) to Chinese Garden.[11] Even though there were plans to build a bridge connecting the two, it was only built after the station's opening.[12] To solve the problem, the Jurong Town Corporation (which owns the garden) devised a plan divided into two phases; The first phase is the construction of a 250 metres (270 yd) concrete footpath as well as a temporary timber footbridge and garden entrance. The second phase is the construction of a permanent bridge based on the Sui Dynasty An-Chi Bridge as well as a grand 1,200 square metres (1,400 sq yd) entrance plaza.[11] The first plan was effectuated in February 1989 whilst the second plan was to be implemented by 1991-92.[13] Additionally, there was no actual path to get to the station from the opposite side despite most commuters living there. This caused them to quickly and unsafely cross the road. Even though a S$200,000 (US$149,253.73) overhead bridge was to built by April of next year, the lack of thought for pedestrian safety was criticised by some residents and commuters.[14]
As with most of the elevated stations along the East-West line, the station was initially built without platform screen doors. Following a rise in track intrusions as well as commuters slipping when rushing for the train, the LTA and SMRT decided to install platform screen doors.[15] After several successful tests at Jurong East, Yishun and Pasir Ris, half-height platform screen doors were eventually installed and commenced operations at Chinese Garden station by March 2012.[16] The station was installed with high-volume low-speed fans by the first quarter of 2013.[17] A 5.6 km cycling path to the station and Lakeside station was opened on October 2021 as a part of a 10km cycling route in Taman Jurong.[18]
Chinese Garden station is on the EWL with the station code of EW25, situated between Jurong East and Lakeside station.[19] Operated by SMRT Trains, the station runs alongside Boon Lay Way[20] and has three exits which primarily serves the Chinese Garden/Japanese Garden and the Yuhua residential estate.[21] It is an elevated train station with an island platform layout. A feature of the station, the curved roof is based on traditional Chinese architecture. The roof was a part of SMRT's idea to give the stations an "ethnic touch".[7] Specifically, the designer of the station Scott Danielson of Parson Brinckerhoff said that "the more [he traveled], the more disturbed [he became by] architects failing to reflect their own culture" and therefore incorporated a Chinese roof design due to the station's proximity to the Chinese Garden.[22] The decorative beams of the roof have been described as "chili-green and hongbao-red".[8]
As part of SMRT's community outreach programme, four artworks created by three Secondary school students from Yuan Ching Secondary School are displayed at the ticketing concourse of the station, which features paintings of a pigeon, goldfish, Chinese porcelain sculpture, and Chinese masks.[23]
Changi Airport Line |
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