Kovan MRT Station

Kovan MRT Station (NE13) is an underground station along the North East Line (NEL), located at the boundaries of the Kovan and Lorong Ah Soo planning subzones. The station sits underneath Upper Serangoon Road, and is near the junction of Tampines Road.

The station serves the Heartland Mall, Kovan City, and surrounding public housing developments, consisting condominiums and private housing on the Kovan side, and housing board flats on the Hougang Street 21 side.

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First / Last Train Timings

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Station Layout

 

L1	Street level	Bus stops, Taxi stand, Pick-up/drop-off point, Retail Shop
B1	Concourse	Faregates, Ticketing machines, Passenger Service Centre, Retail Shops
B2	Platform A	North East Line towards NE1CC29 HarbourFront
	Platform B	North East Line towards NE17PTC Punggol

Platforms (B2):

Platform A: North East Line towards NE1CC29 HarbourFront via NE12CC13 Serangoon (→) Platform B: North East Line towards NE17PTC Punggol via NE14 Hougang (←)

Kovan station has two platforms in an island platform arrangement, with both platforms utilized for trains travelling in either direction. Full-height Platform screen doors isolate the air-conditioned station from the tunnel environment, enhancing commuter safety and station comfort. With the concourse level wrapping around the platform, the ceiling is two floors high at platform level, conveying a spacious feel. A set of escalators, stairs and lifts connect to the concourse above.

Passenger Information Systems, which are plasma display screens located at each platform, display expected train arrival times and key messages. Tactile flooring helps to guide the visually-handicapped from the platform to the station exits.

Concourse

The concourse features faregates for automatic fare collection and provides access between paid and unpaid areas of the station, with at least one bidirectional wide-swinging gate for the benefit of passengers-in-wheelchairs and those carrying bulky items or travelling with prams.

General Ticketing Machines allow commuters to purchase tickets for single or multiple journeys, and along with Top-up Machines, offer contactless card transactions. The station office functions as a Passenger Service Centre, and is staffed during operating hours, where commuters may make travel inquiries.

Art in Transit: “The Trade-Off” by Eng Tow

Progress and what it has meant for Kovan – this is the theme of this intriguing work that juxtaposes topographical maps from 1945 and the present day. These maps of Kovan, one largely agricultural and the other depicting expressways and new developments, are made from granite inlays set on the station floor. These maps are complemented by cartographic symbols on the station’s floor.

Civil Defence shelter

Kovan NEL station is one of thirteen stations along the North East Line designated as Civil Defence (CD) shelters, which will be activated in times of national emergency. Apart from reinforced construction, the stations are designed and equipped with facilities to ensure the shelter environment is tolerable for all shelterees during shelter occupation. These facilities include protective blast doors, decontamination facilities, ventilation systems, power and water supply systems and a dry toilet system.

Station Amenities

• Public Toilets at Street Level, Exit A
• Retail Shops at Concourse Level & Street Level
• Bicycle Racks

Exits

Kovan MRT station has three exits leading to ground level (A, B and C), two of which provide barrier-free accessibility for the disabled.

Exit	Location	Nearby
A	Lowland Road	Lowland Road, Flower Road, Kovan Road, Kovan Melody, Champagnat House, Simon Plaza, Dimensions International College (Main Campus)
B	Upper Serangoon Road (Northbound)	Simon Road, Kovan Residences
C	Upper Serangoon Road (Southbound)	Heartland Mall, Kovan Market and Food Court, Kovan City, Kovan Sports Centre, Paya Lebar Kovan Community Centre

 

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Transport Connections

Kovan station connects to several bus stops in the vicinity, along with taxi stands and passenger pick-up points.

Bus

There are two official bus stops linked to Kovan station.

No.	Bus stop	Exit	Bus Routes
B/s 1	63031 – Upp S’goon Rd (Kovan Stn Exit B)	B	80, 81, 82, 101, 107, 107M, 112, 113, 136, 153
B/s 2	63039 – Upp S’goon Rd (Kovan Stn Exit C)	C	80, 81, 82, 101, 107, 107M, 112, 113, 115, 119, 136, 153

Road

Taxi stands and pick-up/drop-off points are located next to North East Line station exits:

Exit	Road	Provisions
A	Upper Serangoon Road (Northbound)	Taxi stand (G11), pick-up/drop-off point
C	Upper Serangoon Road (Southbound)	Taxi stand (G10), pick-up/drop-off point

Rail Bridging Services

In the event of a MRT service disruption affecting Kovan station, rail bridging services (also called MRT breakdown shuttle buses) may be activated to ply affected stretches of the North East Line. In which case, the buses can be boarded from the following bus stops:

Towards	Bus stop	Exit
North East Line
NE1CC29 HarbourFront	B/s 1: 63031 – Upp S’goon Rd (Kovan Stn Exit B)	B
NE17PTC Punggol	B/s 2: 63039 – Upp S’goon Rd (Kovan Stn Exit C)	C

In addition, passengers can board free regular bus services at Bus Stops 1 & 2 when activated.

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Passenger Usage Patterns

Serving residential developments in the vicinity, Kovan station encounters moderate demand throughout the day.

Construction Trivia

North East Line (NEL) Contract 703 for the Design and Construction of Hougang and Kovan stations and tunnels was awarded to Samsung Corporation of Korea on 28 May 1997 for S$214.8 million.

Future Developments

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Major Incidents

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Gallery

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External Links & References

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