Next Stop: RVHS?

How the Jurong Regional Line (JRL) is already shaping RVians’ lives, years before its official opening

Promotional material for the JRL.

Source: Land Transport Authority

Something’s brewing in the Western half of Singapore. The eagle-eyed might have noticed towering concrete viaducts popping up all over Jurong West, along with road diversions and construction work near Boon Lay, Jurong East and Choa Chu Kang MRT stations. It's all for a grand purpose, of course: the West of Singapore is getting its first new MRT line in a decade, the teal-coloured Jurong Region Line (JRL). 

But what is the JRL exactly, you may ask, and how does it affect my life as an RVian? Well, let’s delve right into it. 

JRL viaducts and station under construction as seen from Boon Lay MRT.

Source: Rui Jie

The JRL is a 24-station MRT line, slated to open in phases from 2027 to 2029. It will connect the new town of Tengah and other neighbourhoods in the west, along with Nanyang Technological University, to the MRT network. It has 3 interchanges with the existing MRT stations of Jurong East, Choa Chu Kang and Boon Lay, and serves as a funnel to the existing North South (NSL) and East West (EWL) MRT lines. 

It’s definitely a line of firsts, including being the first new MRT line constructed aboveground in the 21st century, the first new MRT line without a direct connection to the Central Business District, and the first new MRT to operate in a unique service pattern, nicknamed the “round-robin” by local transport bloggers. 

Aerial view of the future Boon Lay JRL station.

Source: JRL Construction Blog

What exactly does the JRL’s unique service pattern entail for commuters? Well, the JRL has 4 branches, a branch to Peng Kang Hill, a branch to Choa Chu Kang, a branch to Jurong Pier and a branch to Pandan Reservoir. The Pandan Reservoir branch operates independently from Tengah station, while the other 3 branches out of Bahar Junction station use the aforementioned “round-robin” service pattern. 

This means trains operate in a clockwise manner around Bahar Junction, starting from the Choa Chu Kang branch, proceeding to the Jurong Pier branch, then continuing on the Peng Kang Hill branch, before looping back to the Choa Chu Kang branch.

JRL Service Pattern.

Source: Land Transport Authority

For regular commuters like you and me, this necessitates a change in train service at Bahar Junction when travelling in certain directions, for example from the JW branch to the JS CCK branch. However, benefits of the “round-robin” pattern include equal train frequencies on all branches, avoiding the situation seen at the EWL Changi Airport branch where trains only arrive at half the frequency compared to the rest of the EWL. The unique service pattern is the first of its kind, and has resulted in the JRL receiving favourable comparisons to other unique and beloved metro systems like London’s Docklands Light Railway.

The JRL seeks to enhance transport connectivity in the West, providing a direct connection between Choa Chu Kang on the NSL and Boon Lay MRT on the EWL that skips Jurong East MRT. 

RVians who live along the NSL are surely used to the ubiquitous transfer at Jurong East to get to school, and the crowds of people thronging that busy interchange nearly all hours of the day. For students that take 974, 172 and 502, your commute likely falls along the path of the new JRL too, bringing with it the promise of convenience, frequency and not getting stuck in traffic. 

In fact, when the JRL opens, two of its stations — Bahar Junction and Jurong West — will be nearer to RVHS than Boon Lay station! Unfortunately, only RV students from this year’s Secondary 4 batch and younger will get to experience these benefits, as the JRL will not open until 2027.

Of course, a new MRT line is not all sunshine and roses. In the interim, many RVians have been affected by the construction works along the path of the JRL. 

Road works and construction under a JRL station viaduct.

Source: Chanise

One J2 student, Chanise, shared that her tuition commute was affected by the ongoing JRL works. Towering noise barriers surrounded the HDB blocks near her tuition centre, letting only a sliver of light through. She remarked that there was a, quote,  “ton of construction” for the JRL taking place in that area. 

JRL construction site next to a HDB block.

Source: Chanise

An RV student from 25J16, Wang Xinyi, remarked that the JRL construction has caused her much inconvenience on her way back home. 

She used to be able to directly walk back home through Jurong Point after school, but her usual route has been fenced off as part of the construction site for the JRL, requiring her to take a large detour around the construction site to get home. This has increased her reliance on feeder bus services in her commute.

"😞" ~Xinyi’s reaction to the inconvenience caused by the JRL construction.

Construction site for the JRL next to Jurong Point.

Source: Rui Jie

For RVians that use Boon Lay station on the daily, the recent upgrading works to the station’s exits to prepare for the JRL would surely have made an impact on their commute. 

For Tieu Yijun of 25J16, who usually takes the bus but sometimes chooses to take the MRT, it came as a shock to her when she was required to detour around the back of Boon Lay MRT to Exit B as Exit C was closed in March for upgrading works. 

However, when reviewing the situation in hindsight, she expressed a more nonchalant view, saying, “I mean, it was really quite inconvenient; I wish that they would have planned it out better as that exit is the only entry point to the station facing Jurong Point and Boon Lay Bus Interchange. However, it’s not really that big of a deal, I just decided I would stick to riding the bus until that exit reopened.” 

Major upgrading works within Boon Lay station.

Source: Rui Jie

Of course, Exit D was eventually reconfigured to allow for entry into the MRT station as well, but that only happened in mid-April and the Exit was still jammed up as it was not intended to handle passengers entering the station. As of writing, Exit C has since been reopened.

We also interviewed Chan Yu Xuan from 25J05, an RVian whose house was situated directly next to a JRL construction site to get their perspective on the matter. She found the JRL works to be quite well managed, though she still faced some disruptions as a result. The construction work near her house started around 3 years ago when she was in Secondary 2, and she found that there was not too much noise pollution for a construction site so near to her house. 

She also noted that the materials used for construction were transported in the dead of the night or in the early hours of the day to avoid causing traffic on nearby roads. However, one sticking point for her was the bright spotlights used for viaduct construction works at night, which sometimes shone directly into her house and made her family members think “it was morning, but it was like 4:00a.m.”.

Bright spotlights at the JRL construction site.

Source: Yu Xuan

The student was however upbeat about the convenience the JRL would bring once it was completed. She quipped that the nearest bus stop to her house only had 2 bus services and the JRL MRT station would be really close by to her house, which would make it way more accessible for her by shortening her travel times significantly. She also mentioned her disappointment about the completion date of the JRL being  pushed back from August 2026 to 2027 as a result of the pandemic, which meant she would not get to use it to commute to school.

Future connection from the current Boon Lay station to the JRL at Platform level

While the JRL has definitely brought drawbacks to residents during its construction, the exponential increase in convenience once construction is complete will be a net positive for the community and Singapore’s transport system at large. Integrating the new Tengah estate, bringing Jurong East’s future as Singapore’s second CBD to life, and future-proofing Singapore’s transport system for future population demands, that is the vision that the JRL seeks to achieve. 

What do you think? Do you stand to benefit when the JRL opens as well?

Reply with your thoughts below!