page_title: North South MRT line
section_title: Initial developments
hierarchical_section_title: North South MRT line / History / Initial developments
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaque of the unveiling of Toa Payoh station
context_page_description: The North South line is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore, operated by SMRT. Coloured red on the rail map, the line is 45 kilometres long and serves 27 stations, 11 of which, between the Bishan and Marina South Pier stations, are underground. It runs from Jurong East station, located in western Singapore, to Marina South Pier station in the Central Area, via Woodlands station in northern Singapore. The line operates for 19 hours a day, with headways of up to 3 minutes during peak hours and 7 minutes during off-peak hours. All the trains on the NSL run with a six-car formation.
  It is the first MRT line to be built in Singapore, with the first section from Yio Chu Kang station to Toa Payoh station beginning service on 7 November 1987, followed by an extension southwards to Raffles Place station on 12 December the same year and northwards to Yishun station on 20 December 1988. After the southern extension to Marina Bay station on 4 November 1989, the North South line was formed and split from the East West line. In the 1990s, the line extended to the north and west connecting to the Branch line via Woodlands through the Woodlands line extension.
context_section_description: The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) originated from a forecast in 1967 by the planners of the State and City Planning Project, which stated the need for a rail-based urban transport system in Singapore by 1992. Following a debate on whether a bus-only system would be more cost-effective, then-Minister for Communications Ong Teng Cheong came to the conclusion that an all-bus system would be inadequate, as it would have to compete for road space in the land-scarce country.
  After deciding on a rail-based system, the construction of what would become the North South Line was given priority as the line passed through the Orchard Road corridor as well as the rest of the Central Area, the latter of which faced a high demand for public transport. Also, it was near the more densely populated housing estates such as Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio. Construction of the MRT line (and also the MRT system itself) started on 22 October 1983, and the first section from Yio Chu Kang station to Toa Payoh station opened on 7 November 1987. Nine more stations from Novena station to Outram Park station via Raffles Place followed on 12 December that year. The line was extended northward to Yishun station on 20 December 1988 as part of phase 2B and it began independent operations on 4 November 1989 as the North South line when the extension to Marina Bay station was opened.
caption: A plaque at Toa Payoh station commemorating the opening of the first phase of the Singapore MRT
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