Thanks to the new extension, commuters can expect to save up to 25 minutes when they travel from Punggol Central to Pasir Ris, down from the 40 to 45 minutes it currently takes, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Tuesday (10 March 2020).
Elias station, meanwhile, will be located near the residential blocks of Pasir Ris Drive 3, industrial developments at Pasir Ris Drive 12 and Elias Mall. The trains on the Punggol extension will have six cars that can expand to eight when demand rises, similar to those on the main CRL. Ridership on the entire CRL is expected to rise from 600,000 initially to one million in the future.
- 17 Jan 2013: Cross Island Line announced as part of the Land Transport Master Plan 2013
- Aug 2014 – End 2016: Environmental Impact Assessment
- 25 Jan 2019: First Phase of Cross Island Line with 12 stations officially announced, slated to open by 2029
- 25 May 2019: Cross Island Line to connect to Punggol by 2031, as announced in LTMP 2040.
- 4 Dec 2019: Direct Alignment option under Central Catchment Nature Reserve for Cross Island Line chosen by Ministry of Transport
- 10 Mar 2020: Cross Island Line Punggol Extension with 4 stations (including Pasir Ris) officially announced, slated to open by 2031