Thomson-East Coast Line: Stations, Schedule & 2026 Plans

If you’ve ever zoomed into the MRT map on your phone and traced the line toward the eastern coast, you already know why the Thomson-East Coast Line keeps coming up in conversation: it keeps growing. The first stretch opened in January 2020, and the line has been extending in stages ever since, most recently to Bayshore. When the final stage lands in 2026, the TEL becomes the line it was always meant to be: a 57-km run from Woodlands to Sungei Bedok.

Length: 57 km (35 mi) · Stations: 32 at full completion · Operator: SMRT Trains · Stages opened: 1–4 (2020–2024) · Full completion target: 2026

Six numbers, one pattern: the TEL is already most of the way to its final shape, and the part that remains is the smallest stage of all.

Is the Thomson-East Coast Line currently closed?

No. The TEL is running normal daily service, and LTA’s rail-network listing continues to show it as fully operational. The question usually comes up because of temporary schedule tweaks during construction, not because the line is shut.

What is the current schedule for the Thomson-East Coast Line?

• First trains depart from around 5:30am and the last trains finish near midnight, with exact times varying by station and direction (LTA).
• From 22 May to 4 July 2026, Friday-night last trains leave at 11:30pm and Saturday-morning first trains leave at 8:30am to make way for rail-expansion works (LTA newsroom).

That window is a targeted adjustment, not a shutdown — and it is the only 2026 service change on LTA’s published calendar.

What is the last train time?

• Last-train times are not uniform: they vary by station and direction, so the time you see at Orchard will differ from the one at Woodlands South (LTA).
• The TEL does not run 24 hours; the earliest first trains start around 5:30am and the latest last trains wrap up near midnight.
• During the expansion window, the Friday-night last train is 11:30pm and the Saturday-morning first train is 8:30am (LTA newsroom).

The takeaway: check the station board for direction-specific times, and treat the 2026 expansion window as the one exception to an otherwise standard MRT schedule.

What are the stations of Thomson-East Coast Line?

The TEL currently has 27 operational stations in LTA’s official listing, and the full design calls for 32 stations over 57 km (LTA project page). The route starts at Woodlands North, runs down through Orchard and Marina Bay, then bends east along the coast toward Bayshore.

Which stations connect to other MRT lines?

• Woodlands — North South Line (interchange list per MRT Go’s TEL guide)
• Caldecott — Circle Line
• Stevens — Downtown Line
• Orchard — North South Line
• Outram Park — East West Line and North East Line
• Marina Bay — Circle Line and North South Line
• Sungei Bedok — Downtown Line (opens with Stage 5)

What is the Thomson-East Coast Line map?

• Stage 1 (2020): Woodlands North, Woodlands, Woodlands South — 3 stations (LTA)
• Stage 2 (2021): Springleaf, Lentor, Mayflower, Bright Hill, Upper Thomson, Caldecott — 6 stations
• Stage 3 (2022): Stevens, Napier, Orchard Boulevard, Orchard, Great World, Havelock, Outram Park, Maxwell, Shenton Way, Marina Bay, Marina South, Gardens by the Bay — 13 stations
• Stage 4 (2024): Founders’ Memorial, Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap, Bayshore — 8 stations
• Stage 5 (2026 target): Bedok South, Sungei Bedok — 2 stations

Stage-by-stage names and counts come from LTA’s TEL project page. On the current MRT map, the line reads as a long north-south spine that hooks east at Marina Bay; MRT Go’s line page numbers the stations from TE1 at Woodlands North to TE29 at Bayshore, with lettered suffixes like TE22A marking stations added after the original numbering plan.

The pattern: the TEL was designed in geographical chunks — a northern starter, a massive city-core middle, and a coastal finish — which is why it feels complete in some districts and unfinished in others.

The pattern: the TEL’s coverage is nearly complete, with only the final two stations left to open.

What are the plans for Thomson-East Coast Line Phase 5?

Stage 5 is the TEL’s final chapter. It adds two stations — Bedok South and Sungei Bedok — and turns Sungei Bedok into an interchange with the Downtown Line. In March 2026, LTA said the Stage 5 stations were on track to open in the second half of 2026.

When is the Thomson-East Coast Line opening date for Stage 5?

• The official target is the second half of 2026.
• The two new stations are Bedok South and Sungei Bedok (LTA).
• Sungei Bedok will connect to the Downtown Line, adding a new interchange at the eastern end of the line.

The extension is designed to provide the last-mile rail link for eastern Singapore — closing the gap between the TEL’s eastern terminus and the homes it was built to serve (LTA project page).

What about Stage 4 opening?

• Stage 4 opened on 23 June 2024 with eight stations: Founders’ Memorial, Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Tanjong Katong, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap and Bayshore.
• SGTrains.com, a Singapore rail reference, describes Stage 4 as the stretch running from Gardens by the Bay to Bayshore, with Stage 5 continuing from Bayshore to Sungei Bedok.
• Stage 4 extended the line eastward to the Marine Parade and Bayshore corridor (LTA).

The implication: the TEL’s eastern gap is officially a matter of months. For anyone near Bedok South or Sungei Bedok, the 2026 opening is the moment the line stops being a plan and becomes part of the daily commute.

Which is the best MRT line in Singapore?

There is no official “best” MRT line, but the TEL makes a strong case on the criteria riders actually feel: newer trains, quieter operation and noticeably lighter crowds. Part of that is design — the TEL is a medium-capacity line, built to relieve the older North-South and East-West corridors rather than match their loads.

Is Thomson East Coast Line faster?

• Travel times are comparable to other modern MRT lines — the TEL’s edge is the direct routing, not a higher top speed (LTA project page).
• Stage 3 gave the TEL a direct path through the CBD to Marina Bay (Land Transport Authority), giving northern commuters a second, more direct option for city-centre trips.
• Stage 4 extended the line eastward to the Marine Parade and Bayshore corridor (Land Transport Authority), so the East Coast now sits directly on the rail network.

Which MRT line in Singapore is the most crowded?

• The North-South and East-West Lines are the network’s busiest corridors; the TEL, as a medium-capacity line, is the lighter alternative (LTA rail-network listing).
• Commuters describing TEL peak service on Reddit report roughly 20 trains at 5-minute intervals — a sign of a line with headroom, not one running at crush capacity.

For most commuters, the TEL’s lighter feel is the whole appeal: it does not try to be the biggest line, just the least stressful one.

How long will RTS Johor take to complete?

The RTS Link — the cross-border rail connection between Singapore and Johor Bahru — is targeted for completion in 2026, the same year the TEL’s final stage opens. The roughly 4-km link will connect Woodlands North on the TEL to Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru.

Is there a bullet train from Singapore to Malaysia?

• No — the RTS Link is a commuter rail shuttle, not a bullet train.
• It is a short metro-style link designed for frequent cross-border trips, not high-speed travel.

So if you’re waiting for a Singapore–Malaysia bullet train, this is not it — the RTS Link is a shuttle that prioritises frequency and capacity over speed.

How much does it cost to take the RTS Link from Johor Bahru to Singapore?

• The fare is not finalised; planning estimates put a one-way trip at S$4–5.
• Treat that as a working figure — the official fare structure will be announced closer to opening.

How many passengers will RTS Johor carry?

• Planned capacity is 10,000 passengers per hour per direction.
• At that scale, the RTS Link could move a meaningful share of Causeway trips off the bus lanes and onto rail.

How far is Johor Bahru from Singapore?

• The two city centres sit about 1 km apart at the Causeway — a short crossing that a 4-km rail link can comfortably serve.
• Each end gets a station: Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru and Woodlands North in Singapore.

The connection: the RTS Link is not a TEL project, but it plugs straight into the TEL at Woodlands North — so when 2026 arrives, the TEL becomes the MRT line that also leaves the country.

The implication: 2026 will bring together the TEL’s full line and a cross-border rail link, making Woodlands North a dual-purpose station.

Thomson-East Coast Line stages compared

Five stages, one pattern: the TEL’s biggest single slice was the 13-station city-core run, and the final stage is the smallest of all.

Dates and station counts: Land Transport Authority. Stage 4 and 5 segment definitions: SGTrains.com.

The pattern: the TEL was built north-to-south first and east last — so the eastern corridor is the part of the line that riders are still waiting to see finished.

Key milestones: TEL and RTS Link

Six dates, one story: the TEL has grown from a three-station northern stub to a 27-station line in just over six years, with the final stage and the cross-border link both targeted for 2026.

Milestones: Land Transport Authority’s TEL project page; 2026 rail-development update: LTA newsroom.

Why this matters: 2026 is the hinge year — the TEL becomes whole just as the RTS Link makes Woodlands North the gateway to an international connection.

For eastern Singapore, the TEL’s story is almost complete: Stage 4 already put Marine Parade and Bayshore on the rail map, and Stage 5’s two remaining stations will close the loop at Sungei Bedok in the second half of 2026. With the RTS Link at Woodlands North also targeted for 2026, the line that opened as a three-station northern stub becomes Singapore’s only MRT route with a cross-border exit at one end and a brand-new eastern terminus at the other. For commuters in Bedok South and Sungei Bedok, the choice is clear: keep folding the bus into your daily trip until Stage 5 opens, or start planning around Bayshore as your nearest TEL station today.