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Jan 8th, 2017
Singapore golf course makes way for new high speed line
Another course for the concrete
Words: John Dean
I wrote last year about a golf course that had been saved from the HS2 railway link, but a course in Singapore isn't going to get away with a similar high speed train development.
Raffles Country Club, a 36-hole golf club in Singapore, will make way for a massive depot for the new Cross Island MRT line and the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project.
The plot is the single largest to be acquired by the Government in many years, and The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has now served the club an acquisition notice. The club will have to hand over the site by July 31 next year.
The HSR link between Malaysia and Singapore will take the form of a high bridge a stone's throw from Raffles Country Club. The bridge will run 25m above the water for 3km across the Strait of Johor.
From there, the tracks will continue on a flyover across the Ayer Rajah Expressway onto Raffles Country Club, a plot measuring 2km end to end.
Within the existing club grounds, the tracks will go underground towards a passenger terminus on the site of Jurong Country Club.
The Raffles Country Club site will be able to house a spare HSR train, and will allow trains to cross from one track to the other when operations commence by the end of 2026.
To optimise land use, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said a western depot for the upcoming Cross Island MRT line - slated to open in 2030 - will be built on the Raffles Country Club site too.
The SLA said Raffles Country Club will be offered "compensation... based on market value".
The club's 30-year lease on the land expires on Oct 31, 2028. It has two 18-hole courses and about 2,600 members.
The HSR spans 350km between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Express service trains will cruise at 300kmh, shortening land commutes between the two cities to 90 minutes, from four hours by car.
I guess there is always a price for progress, but it's always sad when a course goes under the concrete.
Related:
Golf course saved from HS2 railway line
