NS17  CC15 
Bishan
碧山
பீஷான்
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange
Exit A of Bishan station.
General information
Location200 Bishan Road
Singapore 579827 (NSL)[1][2]
17 Bishan Place
Singapore 579842 (CCL)[3][4]
Coordinates1°21′04″N 103°50′54″E / 1.351236°N 103.848456°E / 1.351236; 103.848456
Owned byLand Transport Authority
Operated bySMRT Trains Ltd (SMRT Corporation)
Line(s)
  North–South Line
  Circle Line
Platforms4 (1 island platform, 2 side platforms)
Tracks4
ConnectionsBus, Taxi
Construction
Structure typeSubsurface (North South Line)
Underground (Circle Line)
Platform levels2
ParkingYes (Junction 8)
AccessibleYes
History
Opened7 November 1987 (1987-11-07) (North South Line)
28 May 2009 (2009-05-28) (Circle Line)
Rebuilt27 July 2008 (2008-07-27) (North South Line southbound platforms)
22 May 2009 (2009-05-22) (North South Line northbound platforms)
ElectrifiedYes
Previous namesKampong San Teng,[5] San Teng[6][7]
Passengers
July 202011,367 per day[8]
Services
Preceding station Mass Rapid Transit Following station
Ang Mo Kio
towards Jurong East
 North–South Line Braddell
towards Marina South Pier
Lorong Chuan
towards Dhoby Ghaut or Marina Bay
 Circle Line Marymount
towards HarbourFront
Location
Singapore MRT/LRT system map
Singapore MRT/LRT system map
Bishan
Bishan station in Singapore

Bishan MRT station is a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North–South (NSL) and Circle (CCL) lines in Bishan, Singapore. The station is located along Bishan Road within the town centre; it is integrated with Junction 8 shopping centre and is close to Bishan Bus Interchange. Nearby schools include Raffles Institution, Catholic High School, and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary and Secondary Schools.

Initially announced as Kampung San Teng, it was renamed San Teng and subsequently Bishan. Bishan NSL station opened on 7 November 1987; it was one of the first five stations on the MRT network. During its construction, the original island platform of the NSL was split into two separate side platforms and the station was upgraded to cope with increased passenger traffic from the CCL, which opened on 28 May 2009. In 2017, tunnels between Bishan and Braddell stations flooded, disrupting train services on the NSL. Bishan NSL is the only ground-level station on the MRT network, while the CCL station houses Move! by Soh Ee Shaun, an Art-in-Transit artwork. Due to the station's location near a former cemetery, the station is said to be haunted.

History

North–South line (1987)

View of passengers at the old platform without platform screen doors
Original island platform in 2006
View of the new air-conditioned platform currently serving only northbound trains
The refurbished platform (Platform A) serving northbound trains since 2008.

Bishan station, which was then named Kampung San Teng, was one of the first stations to be included in the planning stages of the MRT network.[9] The station was renamed San Teng in November 1982[5] and would be built at a Chinese cemetery.[10] Contract 103 for the construction of San Teng MRT station and 3.2-kilometre (2.0 mi) of tunnels between San Teng and Braddell stations was awarded to a Belgian-Singaporean joint venture Hytech, Franki and Compagnie Francois d'Enterprises in December 1983 at a contract sum of S$32.88 million (US$15.56 million). This was the first contract involving cut and cover construction MRT Corporation (MRTC) awarded.[11] On 21 September 1984, MRTC renamed San Teng station Bishan station to reflect the name of the new housing estate that was being built around the station's site.[6][12]

Structural work for Bishan station was completed on 23 October 1985.[13] In January 1986, it was announced the station would be opened in early 1988 as part of the first section of the MRT system from Yio Chu Kang to Toa Payoh stations.[14] In September 1987, it was announced the section would open on 7 November that year.[15][16] To familiarise people with the system,[17] the station opened for a preview from 24 to 25 October.[18][19] As announced, Bishan was one of the first MRT stations on the network to be opened for service on 7 November 1987.[20]

Circle MRT line and further upgrades (2008-09)

View of the Circle Line platforms of Bishan station
CCL platforms of Bishan station

In July 2003, Contract C825A for the design, construction and completion of Bishan interchange station was awarded to Econ Corporation Ltd and Eng Lim Construction Co Pte Ltd Joint Venture[21] at a sum of S$82.2 million (US$47.18 million). The contract also included the upgrading of the NSL station. Construction was due to start in the third quarter of 2003 and was expected to be completed by early 2008.[22][23]

The original NSL station underwent major alterations to enable it to accommodate increased passenger traffic when the CCL station opened. A new, air-conditioned platform to serve southbound trains to Marina South Pier was constructed to increase the station's passenger capacity from 1,250 to 2,020. The new platform, Platform B, opened for service on 27 July 2008.[24] Because Platform A, the original platform, was now serving northbound trains to Jurong East and remained in service, upgrading works for Platform A were hindered and took about a year to complete. While the platform was re-tiled during the day, platform screen doors (PSDs) were installed in sections through the night. An air-conditioning system was also installed as part of the upgrade. Upgrading work for the platform was completed on 23 May 2009. An additional entrance to the basement of Junction 8 was also built.[25] Along with the other Stage 3 CCL stations, Bishan CCL station was opened on 28th of that month.[26][27]

Due to the close proximity of a nearby tunnel portal to residential apartment blocks, the installation of 2-metre (6.6 ft)-tall barriers stretching 180 metres (590 ft) started in September 2011 and was completed by the second quarter of 2012. These barriers are insulated with noise-absorptive materials such as rock wool, which helped reduce noise volume by about five decibels.[28][29][30] The NSL station underwent another upgrade in 2016; this included the repositioning of seats on the platforms to allow more space and seats for commuters to be added.[31]

Incidents

On 28 July 2004, a 31-year-old accountant died after falling onto the track in front of an oncoming train at Bishan station, disrupting northbound train services for an hour.[32][33] On September 15 the same year, an elderly man died in a similar incident.[34]

On 7 October 2017, during heavy rain in the afternoon, water entered a section of tunnel between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations, disrupting NSL train services from Ang Mo Kio station to Marina South Pier for several hours. This was the first time train services in Singapore were affected by flooded tunnels.[35] Separately, at about 5.55 pm, a small fire ignited in the tunnel between Marina Bay and Raffles Place stations but it is not clear the fire, which was extinguished by itself, was linked to the flood, although electrical short circuits caused by water had previously caused tunnel fires.[35][36]

Train services between Marina South Pier and Newton resumed at about 9.20 pm that day. After the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) worked overnight to clear the water in the tunnels,[35] train services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio stations resumed at 1.36 pm the following day. This train disruption was one of the worst in SMRT's history.[37] Through investigations by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), it was discovered the overflowing in the tunnel was caused by a malfunction in the poorly maintained water pumping system, which was repaired.[38][39] On 20 July 2018, the Land Transport Authority fined the operator a combined S$1.9 million (US$1.41 million) for this incident, in addition to the Pasir Ris rail accident,[40][41] and subsequently sacked eight workers involved in the incident due to their negligence by falsifying maintenance records and not maintaining the pumps.[42][43]

Station details

Location and name

Bishan MRT station is located along Bishan Road in the Singapore neighbourhood Bishan. The name Bishan is the Mandarin pronunciation of Peck San (Chinese: 碧山; pinyin: bìshān),[44] which was derived from the name of a large Cantonese burial ground Peck San Theng that used to cover the area.[45]

Bishan station is situated near the retail development Junction 8 and other public amenities such as Bishan Public Library, the CPF building, Bishan Neighbourhood Police Post, Bishan Stadium, Bishan Community Club and Bishan Bus Interchange. It is within walking distance of Catholic High School, Raffles Institution, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School and the Ministry of Education Language Centre (Bishan).[46]

Services

Bishan station serves the North–South (NSL) and Circle lines (CCL). The station code is NS17/CC15 according to official maps.[47] On the NSL, Bishan station is located between Ang Mo Kio and Braddell stations, while on the CCL, the station is located between Lorong Chuan and Marymount stations.[47] The NSL has headways of two to five minutes while the CCL services have headways of three-and-a-half to five minutes.[48]

Station design

View of Junction 8 and an entrance to the station.
The entrance in front of the Junction 8 shopping mall

Bishan NSL station is the only ground-level station on the MRT network.[49] The station was designed with an "open, sunken-plaza" concept that allows natural light onto the tracks.[50] The station has a beige and brick-coloured scheme with plantings of bougainvillaeas outside.[51] The station concourse has steel roof cladding that was installed by Robertson Building Systems (RBS) for S$20 million (US$9.09 million).[52] During construction of the CCL, the station entrance was upgraded to "capture the essence" of the station's status as "gateway" to Bishan. The rebuilt station has a pyramidal opened-top aluminium roof over the existing flat roof, allowing sunlight and ventilation into the station.[53]

The retail stores around the station use glass panels that have chamfered corners, giving balance to the roof. The glass walls are separated from the roofline via a small space at the top so the roof appears to be afloat. The paid area has a layered ceiling and design elements made of glass, giving it a spacious atmosphere. A glass canopy connects the station to the retail development Junction 8.[53]

Bishan CCL station is one of eleven stations along the Circle Line that are designated as Civil Defence (CD) shelters that can be activated during national emergencies. The designated stations have reinforced construction, and are designed and equipped with facilities including protective blast doors, decontamination facilities, ventilation systems, power and water supply systems, and a dry toilet system to ensure the environment is tolerable if the station is used as a shelter.[54]

Public artworks

Move!

One of the murals of Move! along the station's passageway to the CCL

The artwork Move! by Soh Ee Shaun is displayed at the CCL station as part of the network's Art-in-Transit programme.[lower-alpha 1] The artwork consists of three murals – "The Family", "The Scientist" and "The Heartland" – each of which is made of 16 glass panels, all cast in film.[56] The artwork reflects the artist's view of the "mindless rush of commuters" through the station.[55][57] "The Family", a 3-by-8.7-metre (9.8 by 28.5 ft) mural mainly in yellow and black, depicts ordinary activities that are part of Singapore's "air-conditioned" lifestyle. "The Scientist" portrays larger-than-life scientists surrounded by modern technology such as rockets, robots and fighter jets; this mural is designed in blue and black and is painted on a 3-by-7.2-metre (9.8 by 23.6 ft) canvas. "The Heartland", on a 2.9-by-8.2-metre (9.5 by 26.9 ft) panel, represents the neighbourhood of Bishan with the area's notable landmarks against a pink backdrop.[57]

Art Seats

Art Seats Matrix at the CCL platforms

Bishan CCL station includes two sets of Art Seats, which are designed to provide functional pieces of artwork.[58] Two entries, both by Lui Honfay and Yasmine Chan, were selected through the International Art Seats Design Competition in 2006.

Matrix, which received the top prize in the international competition, consists of a series of benches engraved on the surface with the station name in a dot-matrix style, which was used because it was flexible enough to be mass-produced for use in many stations.[59][60]

Rain consists of steel seats in the shape of water puddles in place of the standard stone seats in other MRT stations. The sets' design was intended to include a "natural element in an abstract matter".[lower-alpha 2][60][61]

Cultural impact

Due to it being located on the former burial site of the Peck San Theng, Bishan station is rumoured to be haunted. Tales of headless figures alighting and boarding at the station are locally well-known; one version mentions a ghost sitting in the last car with its decapitated head on the adjacent seat. Such tales likely originated from the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng columbarium, which now houses 45,000 urns, according to Singapore Paranormal Investigators (SPI).[62][63] In response to calls and letters from light-night passengers claiming to witness headless ghosts at the station, The New Paper investigated these claims in October 1988 but did not find any ghosts. The station's operator MRTC, has said the operations and their staff have not been impacted by any sightings but confirmed the station is at the site of the former cemetery.[64]

In April 2005, The Straits Times investigated and debunked several accounts of ghosts at Bishan station. One account mentioned a passenger being in a late-night train that did not stop at the station. When the passenger confronted the driver, the driver claimed to witness ghosts at the station when he said he could see more people than could the commuter. The station operator confirmed trains sometimes bypass stations, although usually these trains are empty. The operator added the train could have bypassed the station when it failed to stop "due to a technical fault". The Straits Times article also mentioned a first-hand account from a former civil servant who claimed to have fainted while aboard a train in 1991; she said she felt many groping hands before fainting after the train pulled out of Bishan station. In a field investigation, The Straits Times reported no encounters of any ghosts.[62]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Public art showcase which integrates artworks into the MRT network[55]
  2. ↑ These seats are also displayed in the other CCL interchange stations, such as Buona Vista station.

References

  1. ↑ "Bishan MRT Station (NS17)". OneMap. Singapore Land Authority.
  2. ↑ "Location View of 200 Bishan Road, 579827". www.streetdirectory.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "17 Bishan Place, Bishan MRT Station". OneMap. Singapore Land Authority.
  4. ↑ "Bishan (MRT Station) - 17 Bishan Place (S)579842". www.streetdirectory.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Station names will reflect their localities". The Straits Times. 30 November 1982. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Six stations are renamed and others moved". The Straits Times. 21 September 1984. p. 10. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Names for 42 MRT stations". Singapore Monitor. 20 September 1984. Archived from the original on 9 September 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Land Transport DataMall". mytransport.sg. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Proposed MRT stations". The Straits Times. 23 May 1982. p. 1. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  10. ↑ "Where the 14 North-South MRT stations will be". The Straits Times. 30 November 1982. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  11. ↑ "Two MRT contracts worth $96m awarded". The Straits Times. Singapore. 16 December 1983. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "MRT Corp changes names of six stations". Business Times. 21 September 1984. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Topping out for MRT station at Bishan". Business Times. 23 October 1985. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "The first residents to ride MRT trains". The Straits Times. 14 January 1986. p. 12. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "MRT trains to roll on Nov 7". The Straits Times. 16 September 1987. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "MRT trains may start runs a month early". Business Times. 16 September 1987. p. 2. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  17. ↑ "MRT station tours from next month". The Straits Times. 4 September 1987. p. 19. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  18. ↑ "MRT to spend $1.5 m on educating public before trains roll". Business Times. 25 September 1987. p. 2.
  19. ↑ "Two small buttons to stop train in emergency". The Straits Times. 24 October 1987. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "All aboard for the Subway Age". The Straits Times. 8 November 1987. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "Projects - Rail". www.lta.gov.sg. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  22. ↑ "Award Of Contracts For Stage 3 Of Circle Line". www.lta.gov.sg. 31 July 2003. Archived from the original on 6 August 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "$313m Circle Line contracts awarded". The Straits Times. 1 August 2003. p. 10.
  24. ↑ "New Platform at Bishan Station ready". The Straits Times. 26 July 2008.
  25. ↑ "Bishan MRT station ready for Circle crowds". The Straits Times. 22 May 2009. p. 49.
  26. ↑ "Circle Line to open 2 days ahead of schedule, fares identical to NEL". Channel NewsAsia. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  27. ↑ "Early Opening for Circle Line from Bartley to Marymount" (PDF). www.lta.gov.sg. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  28. ↑ "LTA to study noise levels along elevated MRT tracks". Channel NewsAsia. 14 June 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  29. ↑ "LTA Unveils Plans To Look Into Mitigating Railway Noise". www.lta.gov.sg. 14 June 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016.
  30. ↑ "LTA to Install Railway Noise Barriers at Tampines, Jurong East and Toh Guan". www.lta.gov.sg. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016.
  31. ↑ "17 MRT Stations to be Upgraded". www.lta.gov.sg. 19 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  32. ↑ "Bishan MRT Death". The New Paper. 29 July 2004.
  33. ↑ Teck Hian, Wee (29 July 1994). "Death at Bishan Station disrupt services". Today.
  34. ↑ "MRT incident hits services". Today. 16 September 2004. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.
  35. 1 2 3 Tan, Christopher (7 October 2017). "NSL disruption: Train services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton will not be available until earliest Sunday". The Straits Times. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  36. ↑ "Water in the tunnel, trackside fire caused train disruption on NSL: SMRT". Channel Newsasia. 8 October 2017. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  37. ↑ "NSL disruption: No train services between Ang Mo Kio, Newton 'till further notice', says SMRT". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  38. ↑ "NSL disruption: Malfunctioning water pumping system resulted in flooded MRT tunnel, says LTA". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  39. ↑ "Investigation Findings on Flooding of MRT Tunnels Between Bishan and Braddell Stations from 7 – 8 October 2017". www.lta.gov.sg. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  40. ↑ "SMRT to be fined S$1.9 million for Pasir Ris fatal accident, flooding". Channel NewsAsia. 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  41. ↑ "SMRT to be fined S$1.9m for two rail incidents". TODAYonline. 22 March 2016. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  42. ↑ Lim, Adrian (28 November 2017). "Bishan MRT tunnel flooding: Legal action SMRT can take against ex-staff depends on contract terms". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  43. ↑ "SMRT dismisses 8 employees involved in Oct 7 tunnel flooding incident". TODAYonline. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  44. ↑ Ng 2018, p. 89.
  45. ↑ Savage 2013, p. 40.
  46. ↑ "SMRT Journeys". SMRT Journeys. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  47. 1 2 "MRT System Map" (PDF). Land Transport Authority (LTA). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  48. ↑ "Transport Tools - MRT/LRT". www.lta.gov.sg. 6 May 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  49. ↑ "First MRT line mostly subway". The Straits Times. 13 October 1982. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  50. ↑ Rav Dhaliwal (1 March 1987). "Rainbow dressing at Toa Payoh station". The Straits Times. p. 3.
  51. ↑ "Reflections of our lifestyle". The Straits Times. 12 December 1987. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  52. ↑ "RBS to provide Bishan station with roof cladding". Business Times. 30 April 1985. p. 3. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  53. 1 2 "Circle Line Bishan Interchange Station CC15/ NS17 - SAA Group Architects". SAA Group Architects. 2 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  54. ↑ Colin 2012, p. 176.
  55. 1 2 Massot, Gilles (7 April 2020). "Getting Around - Public Transport - A Better Public Transport Experience - Art in Transit". www.lta.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  56. ↑ "Bishan Circle Line Artwalls". www.gardensilly.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  57. 1 2 Zhuang 2013, p. 98.
  58. ↑ Zhuang 2013, p. 188.
  59. ↑ Zhuang 2013, p. 188–189.
  60. 1 2 "Annex B: Summary of CCL Art-in-Transit Concepts" (PDF). Land Transport Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  61. ↑ Zhuang 2013, p. 192–193.
  62. 1 2 Mun San, Mak (17 April 2005). "Is Bishan MRT 'unclean'?". The Straits Times. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016 – via NewspaperSG.
  63. ↑ "Singapore's Very Own Ghost Buster Shares His Disturbing Supernatural Experiences: Sleepless In Singapore". YP SG. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  64. ↑ Abdul Hadhi (17 October 1988). "Where are the ghosts?". The New Paper. p. 3. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016 – via NewspaperSG.

Bibliography

  • Ng, Yew Peng (2018). What's in the name? How the streets and villages in Singapore got their names. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-322-139-0. OCLC 990571127.
  • Savage, Victor (2013). Singapore street names : A study of Toponymics. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions. ISBN 978-981-4408-35-6. OCLC 868957283.
  • Zhuang, Justin (2013). Art in transit : Circle Line MRT - Singapore. Singapore: Land Transport Authority. ISBN 978-981-07-4982-8. OCLC 854958677.
  • Colin, Cheong (2012). The Circle Line, Linking All Lines. ISBN 978-981-4342-02-5.
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