Сингапур метросы: Буангок станциясы

Mass Rapid Transit station in Singapore

Buangkok MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East line (NEL) in Singapore. Located underneath Sengkang Central near the junction with Compassvale Bow, the station serves the residential town of Buangkok. The station will also serve an upcoming integrated development Sengkang Grand Residencies and a future bus interchange. The station is operated by SBS Transit. First announced in March 1996 and beginning construction in April 1997, Buangkok station was one of two stations on the NEL to remain closed when the line began operations on 20 June 2003. After intense lobbying by grassroots leaders and residents, including a white elephant incident in 2005, the station opened on 15 January 2006. Buangkok station is a designated Civil Defence shelter and the two entrances of the station are enveloped by white Teflon sheets. An Art in Transit artwork Water, Nature and the Contemporary by Vincent Leow is displayed at the station.

The North East line (NEL) project, which was first proposed in 1984, received government approval in January 1996. Buangkok station was among the sixteen NEL stations announced by communications minister Mah Bow Tan that March. The contract for the construction of Sengkang and Buangkok stations was awarded to a joint venture between Sato Kogyo and Hock Lian Seng Engineering on 26 April 1997. The S$166.4 million (US$ million) contract included the construction of connecting tunnels between the stations and reception tunnels to Sengkang Depot. The station was constructed in a forested area, which was proposed to be re developed as an important new town. After the forest was cleared and the vacated warehouses demolished, the station was constructed using the "open cut" and "bottom up" methods. The site was excavated to a depth of up to , and work on the station then proceeded from the bottom up. Following the station's construction, roads were built to connect the station with existing roads.

Just days before the opening of the NEL, on 17 June 2003, operator SBS Transit announced that two stations on the line – Woodleigh and Buangkok – would not open along with the other stations, due to the lack of development in their respective areas. The operator said keeping the stations closed would reduce operating costs by S$2–3 million. They said the station would need a daily ridership of 5,000 for the station to be "commercially viable", A Member of Parliament (MP) for Pasir Ris–Punggol, Charles Chong, echoed the residents' sentiments. A poll of residents living within of the station showed that they were willing to walk the long distance to the station, Residents polled also said it would be more convenient for them to use Buangkok station than the adjacent stations of Sengkang and Hougang. However, SBS Transit said the poll, launched by Chong and conducted with academics from the National University of Singapore (NUS), was flawed and did not take into account the frequency of commuters' usage. The government acknowledged SBS Transit had made mistakes in delaying the announcement of the station's closure but stood by the operator's decision and rationale due to low passenger demand in the area. At the official opening ceremony of the NEL on 28 August 2003, deputy prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said Buangkok station would open in 2006 after more residential flats were built in the area. In the meantime, the government provided more feeder bus services for residents in the area. In response to residents' plans to gift a white elephant statue to the operator, Lee quipped Buangkok station would be a "bigger white elephant" if the station were to serve no passengers after its opening. SBS Transit was unconvinced by the polls, saying there needed to be enough people who were willing to walk the long distance to Buangkok station. Youth minister Vivian Balakrishnan visited Punggol South on 28 August; during his visit, eight white cardboard elephants were erected along the road toward Buangkok station. This prompted the minister to visit the closed station. In a dialogue session with the residents, he assured them that the station's opening would be a "matter of time" following the construction of the 2,000 residential units. Dissatisfaction with the station's continued closure had increased after the announcement of transport fare hikes. After the minister's visit, the elephant cut outs were removed. On 1 September, the police launched an investigation into the cut outs under the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act following a complaint. Residents and community leaders expressed shock at the investigation, saying there was no ill intent and that the cut outs were a "creative way" to bring the issue up to the minister. On 6 October, the police closed the investigation without pressing charges, though they sternly warned one veteran grassroots leader. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng clarified that the investigation was initiated because they could not selectively enforce legislation, or else the law would become "the real white elephant". Following the incident, Yeo asked the LTA to re examine whether there was adequate passenger demand to justify the station's opening. The expected opening date was further pushed to 2008, following projections for the housing development plans for the area. At the time, only 500 residential units had been completed within of the station. Nevertheless, the LTA continued to review the feasibility of opening the station sooner. On 11 November, Yeo announced that Buangkok station would open the following January, after SBS Transit agreed to the opening due to reduced losses from its rail operations. Yeo denied pressuring the operator to open the station and said the opening was due to "tireless appeals" by Chong. In December, the opening date was scheduled for 15 January. Before the opening, SBS Transit staff tested the station's equipment and had the station cleaned up. For the carnival at the station's opening event, students from Raffles Girls' School were invited by Punggol South grassroots to sell their remaining T shirts bearing "Save the White Elephants". No one, not even the girls selling them, ultimately wore the outfits at the station's opening, and the celebrations proceeded without issues. The station opened as scheduled "with much fanfare", beginning with a walk a jog to the station led by the event's guest of honour defence minister Teo Chee Hean. The station's opening was marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony, and station operations began at 12:55pm. After its opening, the station averaged only 1,386 daily riders instead of the expected 6,000. Many residents still traveled to the adjacent Sengkang and Hougang stations due to their amenities. SBS Transit, after saying that it was still "too early to draw a conclusion" about ridership, Being part of the NEL, the station is operated by SBS Transit. The station operates daily from about 5:45am to 12:25am. Train frequencies vary from 2.5 to 5.0 minutes. Buangkok station is located in Sengkang along the road of Sengkang Central near the junction with Compassvale Bow. The station has two entrances serving the surrounding HDB flats and two schools Palm View Primary School and North Vista Primary School. The station is designed by Altoon + Porter Architects and 3HP Architects. Unlike the other NEL stations, the entrances of Buangkok station do not employ glass in their design; white Teflon sheets supported by metal frames envelop the entrances, resembling a circus tent. The station is designated as a Civil Defence (CD) shelter: it is designed to accommodate at least 7,500 people and withstand airstrikes and chemical attacks. Equipment essential for the operations in the CD shelter is mounted on shock absorbers to prevent damage during a bombing. When the electrical supply to the shelter is disrupted, there are backup generators to keep operations going. The shelter has dedicated built in decontamination chambers and dry toilets with collection bins that will send human waste out of the shelter. Like all other NEL stations, the platforms are wheelchair accessible. A tactile system, consisting of tiles with rounded or elongated raised studs, guides visually impaired commuters through the station. Dedicated tactile routes connect the station entrances to the platforms. The station artwork consists of two image stripes, which are displayed across the open stair voids that link the concourse level to the platform. The 80 vitreous enamel panels were silkscreened with various black and white photographs reminiscent of cinematic stills or film strips, depicting people, activities, and natural landscapes in Singapore. The artwork's images were enlarged, resulting in an abstract appearance; when observed from a distance, the images come into clear focus. The images incorporate dots, graphic motifs, and bands to reflect the "vitality of Buangkok New Town". Leow, typically known for his paintings and sculptures, saw the commission as "an opportunity to experiment" and decided to "push his artistic boundaries" by fusing art and photography for the commission, allowing him to express himself. The photographs, retrieved from the National Archives of Singapore, were selected to reflect the lifestyle of old Buangkok and other rural areas of Singapore and for commuters to connect the past and the future. The images double as a commentary of life in Singapore; for example, the photo of the soldier on parade is intended to remind many Singaporean men of National Service and their "rite of passage into adulthood". The vibrant embellishments contrasted with the backdrop of black and white photographs, as the artist intended to capture the attention of commuters while creating "a bright and happy ambience" through "the explosion of colours". Leow drew parallels to the little dots and pixels of TV and computer images which blur out certain images while creating a new image. Also incorporated within the artwork are auspicious symbols, including depictions of fishes and red or tangerine clouds interspersed throughout the images. These clouds draw inspiration from traditional Chinese art and street theatre, which were familiar to many Singaporeans.