Transfers on Downtown Line 1

With Downtown Line 1's opening looming closer and closer, have you ever wondered how transfers will be made at the 4 new interchanges? Bayfront station is the easiest with cross-platform transfers working similar to that at City Hall and Raffles Place stations. All you need to do is simply walk across the platform if you are traveling in the same direction. If you are changing direction, you would need to change floors as well.

At other stations, a slightly more complex transfer is needed. Starting at Bugis, the station has both paid and unpaid links between the East West Line (EWL) and Downtown Line (DTL). The paid transfer link opens up to the side of the concourse in the EWL station, roughly at the landing between the escalators. From here, a new set of escalators brings you down to the transfer subway one level down. Near the existing fare line, another opening will allow lift access to the subway. Once rounding the corner, a travellator will bring you to the transfer mezzanine level within the DTL station, one floor above the platform.

The unpaid link opens up between Entrances B and C on the EWL and will feature a row of shops within the DTL station. A void overlooks the paid transfer subway below, bringing you directly to the DTL concourse level.

At Promenade, things are a bit trickier. This interchange between the Circle Line (CCL) and DTL will require several level changes. As there are no new entrances built for the DTL, all entry to the station's paid areas will be through the existing fare lines in the CCL station. Passengers from the concourse level or CCL upper platform will need to take an escalator down to the CCL lower platform where the DTL paid concourse is.

From the CCL lower platform, the connection to the DTL paid concourse is available, allowing passengers to descend further to the DTL upper and lower platforms. This means that if you are transferring or entering the DTL from the upper levels of the station, you would need to make a 2-escalator transfer - slightly more tedious than other stations on this phase of the line.

Lastly, Chinatown station provides an easy 1-escalator transfer. Currently, it seems that only Platform A serving the Bukit Panjang bound tunnel will be open during the initial period. Platform B will be used for trains heading towards Expo once stage 3 opens for operations. From the North East Line (NEL) platform, one simply needs to walk to the northern end to find escalators and lifts that will lead up to the DTL station platform.

Once Platform B is open as well, the transfer is a simple walk over from the NEL concourse level as the platform opens directly to the NEL fare line.