Singapore East West Line Closure Hits Airport Access

A Singapore East West Line closure between Bedok and Tampines from November 29 to December 8, 2025 will temporarily change how travelers reach Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) by rail. During the 10 day shutdown, there will be no East West Line train service through Simei or Tanah Merah and no direct Tanah Merah interchange to Expo, the usual transfer point for airport bound services. Visitors staying in central districts, beach hotel corridors, and near Singapore Expo should expect busier platforms, extra transfers, and journeys that can take up to 30 minutes longer.

In practical terms, the Singapore East West Line closure suspends trains between Bedok and Tampines and between Tanah Merah and Expo from November 29 to December 8 so that tracks can be connected to the new East Coast Integrated Depot and a new platform at Tanah Merah can be brought into service. About 180,000 daily commuters, including many airport passengers and trade fair visitors heading to Singapore Expo, will be pushed onto shuttle buses, alternative MRT lines, and road transport during the works.

How The East West Line Closure Works

The Land Transport Authority and SMRT describe the project as a 10 day service adjustment to connect the existing East West Line to the East Coast Integrated Depot and to operationalise a new Tanah Merah platform that will eventually support a Thomson East Coast Line extension. From November 29 to December 8, Simei and Tanah Merah MRT stations will be closed entirely, and there will be no train service on the East West Line between Bedok and Tampines or between Tanah Merah and Expo.

Trains will still run on the rest of the East West Line but at modified frequencies. Services between Tampines and Pasir Ris will operate about every five minutes, while trains between Paya Lebar and Bedok will run about every eight minutes. On the Changi Airport branch, trains between Expo and Changi Airport will continue during the closure, with peak period frequencies at roughly five minutes, which means the rail link from Expo into the terminals remains intact.

To cover the missing segments, SMRT is operating two shuttle bus routes that mirror the closed track. Shuttle 7 will run in a loop between Bedok, Tanah Merah, Simei, and Tampines at intervals of about three to five minutes, while Shuttle 8 will connect Bedok, Tanah Merah, and Expo roughly every 10 minutes. Authorities warn that affected MRT stations and nearby bus stops will be significantly more crowded than usual and that journeys on these corridors may take up to 30 minutes longer than a normal East West Line ride.

Reaching Changi Airport During The Shutdown

For most visitors, the cleanest way to reach Singapore Changi Airport during the closure will be to treat Expo as the main interchange rather than Tanah Merah. The simplest pattern is to ride the Downtown Line to Expo, then change to the Changi Airport branch, which will keep running every few minutes at peak times.

If you are staying in Marina Bay, City Hall, Bugis, or along the Downtown Core, you can usually board the Downtown Line at stations such as Downtown, Bayfront, Bugis, or Promenade and travel directly to Expo, then continue on the airport branch. Travelers based in Orchard Road hotels can reach the Downtown Line by taking the North South Line from Orchard or Somerset to Newton or Dhoby Ghaut, then transferring, and continuing to Expo.

Visitors staying near Clarke Quay, Chinatown, or the riverside bar districts can move across to Chinatown or Fort Canning to join the Downtown Line, which again gives a simple one transfer route at Expo. From HarbourFront, Sentosa, and cruise friendly areas around VivoCity, the most straightforward journey is to take the North East Line to Chinatown, then transfer to the Downtown Line and ride out to Expo before making the short final hop to Changi Airport.

If you are already on the East West Line in central Singapore, for example at Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar, or Paya Lebar, you can still ride east toward Bedok, but you will need to switch to shuttle buses once you reach the closure boundary. A typical pattern will be to alight at Bedok, use Shuttle 8 or Shuttle 7 depending on the signposted route, ride to Expo, and then change to the airport branch. This is workable for light luggage, but it adds stairs, bus boarding, and potential queues at both ends.

Because the Changi Airport branch itself remains open, once you are on a train between Expo and the airport the experience should feel similar, aside from somewhat fuller carriages and more luggage on board. However, crowding on the Downtown Line and on shuttle buses will make it harder to guarantee a precise arrival time, especially during weekday peaks and weekend holiday surges.

Routes From Marina Bay, Orchard, And Cruise Areas

For cruise passengers and short stay visitors, the most common hotel clusters are around Marina Bay, Orchard Road, Bugis, and the harbourfront. During the closure, the priority from these districts is to minimize the number of transfers and avoid the most heavily affected shuttle corridors.

From Marina Bay, Raffles Place, and the financial district, the best default is to use the Downtown Line rather than trying to stay on the East West Line all the way out to Bedok. That usually means walking or taking a short feeder ride to Downtown, Bayfront, or Telok Ayer, then riding east to Expo and changing once to the airport branch. This keeps you off the Bedok shuttle bottleneck completely and takes advantage of the high frequency Downtown Line core.

Orchard Road guests can consider taxis or ride hailing for early morning departures when luggage and family groups make bus transfers more stressful, especially if check in opens soon after you would arrive. If you prefer to stay on rail, routing through Newton or Little India to catch the Downtown Line to Expo keeps your journey on high capacity lines and avoids Simei and Tanah Merah entirely.

Passengers leaving from Marina Bay Cruise Centre or heading to Sentosa resorts should treat their journey as two legs, one to reach a Downtown Line station in the core, and a second from that station to Expo and Changi Airport. In practice, that usually means a short road transfer from the cruise terminal or Sentosa to Chinatown, Downtown, or Bayfront, followed by the Downtown Line and the airport branch. This mirrors the eventual pattern of the network once the East Coast Integrated Depot and Tanah Merah enhancements are fully in place, and it keeps you away from the most constrained bus interchanges.

When Taxis Or Ride Hailing Make More Sense

Because journey times on affected segments can lengthen by up to 30 minutes and platforms will be busier, some visitors will be better off switching to road transport, at least for one leg of the trip. As a rule of thumb, if your airport check in or boarding pass collection window opens within 90 minutes of your planned hotel departure, or if you are traveling with small children, multiple suitcases, or mobility constraints, a taxi or ride hail directly to the terminal may be the lower risk choice.

Road access between central Singapore and the airport will not be affected by the rail works, so journeys from Marina Bay, Orchard, Clarke Quay, or HarbourFront to the terminals should remain broadly predictable outside of isolated accidents or heavy rain. Many travelers will still choose to use MRT or a mixed MRT and shuttle pattern for the outbound leg when they have time, then switch to taxis on their return with heavier luggage and less predictable arrival times.

It is also sensible to build in extra buffer if you are connecting from a regional ferry, a coach from Malaysia, or a domestic cruise into a same day flight. In those cases, the cost of a missed flight is high enough that paying for a road transfer from the ferry terminal, coach drop off point, or cruise pier to Singapore Changi Airport is usually worth it, particularly during the November 29 to December 8 closure window.

Background, East Coast Integrated Depot And Future Benefits

The works that are causing this disruption are part of a broader capacity expansion on Singapore's east side. The East Coast Integrated Depot, now under construction near Changi, will be the first facility in Singapore to house trains from three MRT lines and a bus depot on a single site, serving the East West Line, the Downtown Line, and the Thomson East Coast Line once complete. By connecting the existing East West Line tracks into this depot and adding a new Tanah Merah platform, SMRT and the Land Transport Authority expect to improve their ability to launch and withdraw trains quickly, reshuffle rolling stock after incidents, and run more resilient peak service patterns.

For travelers, those benefits will show up over the next couple of years as more frequent trains and smoother connections on the eastern leg of the network, including the airport branch and future Thomson East Coast Line services. In the short term, though, the November 29 to December 8 closure window is the trade off, and anyone planning a Singapore trip that touches Singapore Changi Airport or Singapore Expo during that period should plan journeys carefully, allow extra buffer, and be ready to pivot between MRT, shuttle buses, and road transport based on how crowded the system looks on the day.

Sources

• Reminder on Train Service Adjustments along East West Line from 29 November to 8 December 2025
• Service Announcement, Operations of Shuttle 7 and 8 during Train Service Adjustments along East West Line
• Tanah Merah, Simei MRT Stations to Shut for 10 Days as Tracks Linked to New Depot
• Crowds, Longer Travel Times Expected During Nov 29 Dec 8 Closure of Singapore's Simei, Tanah Merah MRT Stations
• Shuttle Buses to Be Deployed for MRT East West Line Track Works
• Train Service Adjustments Brochure, Paya Lebar to Pasir Ris and Tanah Merah to Changi Airport
• East Coast Integrated Depot