The third stage of Singapore’s Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) officially began passenger service on November 13, attracting crowds eager to experience the newly opened MRT line. Families, seniors, and fitness enthusiasts were among those boarding the trains and capturing photos at the stations.

Jacky Zhu, 40, a software engineer, took the train with his wife and children, aged three to eight, from Great World station at 9 a.m., headed to Gardens by the Bay. Zhu mentioned wanting to test the time it would take to commute from his home to his office in Marina Bay.

Eleven new stations opened as part of this phase: Stevens, Napier, Orchard Boulevard, Orchard, Great World, Havelock, Outram Park, Maxwell, Shenton Way, Marina Bay, and Gardens by the Bay.

Commuters were able to preview the line on November 11, when the Land Transport Authority offered free rides along the newly opened stations. Approximately 500,000 people participated, though the line had no connections to existing MRT routes at that time.

With the official opening, Stevens station connects to the Downtown Line, Orchard station to the North-South Line, Outram Park to the East-West and North-East lines, and Marina Bay to both the Circle and North-South lines.

Another early passenger, Dylan Tan, 31, used the new line to travel from Havelock station to Beauty World station for a morning hike at the recently opened Rifle Range Nature Park. Tan, who hikes regularly, noted that the journey from his home in Tiong Bahru now takes only 20 minutes, compared to 45 minutes previously, as he no longer needs to transfer at Newton station.