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The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) gazetted the acquisition of the land occupied by Raffles Country Club (RCC) in Tuas on Wednesday (4 January), so that it can be used for the facilities of the upcoming Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and future Cross Island Line’s (CRL) western depot.
“The RCC site is the most suitable location to run the at-grade HSR tracks immediately after the bridge crossing, and to place the tunnel portal leading to the underground tunnels that would take the HSR to the Jurong East terminus,” said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement.
“This, we feel, is the optimum site in terms of location, the size, and orientation,” LTA’s Deputy Chief Executive Chua Chong Kheng told TODAYonline. “There are not a lot of options where we can actually site, without having to make a lot of land acquisition.”
The RCC will also make way for the HSR’s crossover tracks and a siding facility that will temporarily house a train near the border for safety or operational reasons, if necessary.
In addition, the CRL’s western depot will be built there. This will contain stabling and maintenance facilities, as well as structures serving other transport-related needs, which may include train testing facilities.
The HSR, which is expected to reduce travel time from Singapore to KL to just 90 minutes, is expected to commence operations by 31 December 2026.
According to the TODAYonline report, the RCC is one of Singapore’s oldest golf clubs. It opened in 1988 and its 30-year lease was supposed to expire on 31 October 2028. However, the owners will now need to relinquish the property to the SLA by 31 July 2018.
It is the second golf club to make way for the HSR. The other was the Jurong Country Club, which was required to sell its land for the HSR terminus before it closed last year.
Image source: Raffles Country Club website
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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