Little India MRT Station

Little India MRT Station (NE7/DT12) is an interchange station in located in the ethnic district of Little India, connecting the North East Line (NEL) and the Downtown Line (DTL).

Located at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Race Course Road, the station brings rail connections to the historic district of Little India, formerly a settlement for Tamils, and now a Tamil ethnic neighbourhood. In the vicinity are plenty of shophouses, Tekka Centre, the Land Transport Authority Headquarters, condominiums and other mixed commercial and residential developments.

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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
B1	NEL Concourse	Faregates, Top Up Kiosks, Passenger Service Centre, Retail Shops
	Transfer Linkway	Paid Transfer between NEL Concourse & DTL Concourse
B2	NEL Platform A	North East Line towards NE1CC29 HarbourFront
	NEL Platform B	North East Line towards NE17PTC Punggol
	DTL Concourse	Faregates, Top Up Kiosks, Passenger Service Centre
B3	DTL Platform A	Downtown Line towards DT1–BP6 Bukit Panjang
	DTL Platform B	Downtown Line towards DT35CG1 Expo

Platforms

North East Line (B2):

Platform A: North East Line towards NE1CC29 HarbourFront via NE6NS24CC1 Dhoby Ghaut (→) Platform B: North East Line towards NE17PTC Punggol via NE8 Farrer Park (←)

Downtown Line (B3):

Platform A: Downtown Line towards DT1–BP6 Bukit Panjang via DT11–NS21 Newton (→) Platform B: Downtown Line towards DT35CG1 Expo via DT13 Rochor (←)

Little India station has four platforms; both rail lines are served by two each, arranged in a island platform layout for each rail line. The newer Downtown Line cuts underneath the North East Line, and the platforms serving both lines are connected with transfer linkways within paid areas of the station.

The NEL and DTL platforms are both designed with the upper floor concourse wrapping around the platform, creating a large indoor space typical of many NEL and several other DTL/CCL stations.

Concourse

Both NEL and DTL concourses feature 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.

A public toilet is located in the unpaid area of the concourse, near the Passenger Service Centre.

NEL Art in Transit: “Memoirs of the Past” by S Chandrasekaran

These evocative, sepia-toned works celebrate all that is unique about Indian culture in Singapore. The influence of traditional Indian folk art comes through in the distinctive metal grilles at the station entrances and the elaborate floor works in bronze and granite inside the station. Animal paintings allude to the buffalo stables that used to be in the area in the past

DTL Art in Transit: “Woven Field” by Grace Tan

The soft curves of the architectural features in Little India Station set the backdrop for Woven Field – a landscape of tessellated triangular configurations inspired by the singhaulia woven patterns commonly seen in the traditional sari. The beauty of the sari cloth lies in its intricate and repetitive geometric patterns, shaped by the weaving of the lengthwise warp and widthwise weft yarns.

Station Amenities

• Retail Shop at NEL Concourse
• Public toilets at NEL, DTL concourse
• Bicycle Stands

Exits

Little India MRT station has six exits at ground level (A, B, C, D, E, F), with only exit E being inaccessible to the disabled.

Exit E is only accessible for exit from the station from 9 May 2022.

Exit	Location	Nearby
A	Bukit Timah Road	Mackenzie Car Mall, Mackenzie Regency, Mackenzie Road, Rex Cinema, Selegie Centre
B	Bukit Timah Road	Tekka Market
C	Tekka Centre	Tekka Centre, Tekka Market, The Verge
D	Race Course Road	Foochow Methodist Church, Grand Imperial Hotel, Kerbau Hotel, Land Transport Authority Headquarters, Shree Lakshminarayan Temple, Tekka Centre, Tekka Market
E	Buffalo Road	Gholia’s Village, Grand Imperial Hotel, Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple, Sri Veerama Kaliamman Temple
F	Bukit Timah Road	Farrer Park Swimming Complex, Farrer Park Tennis Centre, Kampong Java Park, KK Woman’s & Children’s Hospital, Land Transport Authority Headquarters, Tanglin Police Division Headquarters

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Transport Connections

Little India station connects to several bus stops in the vicinity, as well as taxi stands and passenger pick-up points at selected exits.

Bus

There are two official bus stops linked to Little India station.

No.	Bus stop	Exit	Bus Routes
B/s 1	40011 – Bt Timah Rd (Little India Stn Exit A)	A	48, 56, 57, 67, 166, 170, 851, 851e, 960, 960e, 980
B/s 2	40019 – Bt Timah Rd (Little India Stn)	B / D	48, 56, 57, 67, 131, 131A, 166, 170, 851, 851e, 960, 960e, 980

Road

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

Exit	Road	Provisions
A	Bukit Timah Road (Northbound)	Taxi stand (F26)
C	Race Course Road (outside Blk 661)	Taxi stand (F27), Pick-up/drop-off point
F	Bukit Timah Road (Southbound)	Pick-up/drop-off point

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MRT Bus Bridging Service

In the event of a MRT service disruption affecting Little India station, MRT Bridging Buses may be activated to ply affected stretches of the North East Line or Downtown Line. In which case, the buses can be boarded from the following bus stops:

Towards	Bus stop	Exit
North East Line (NEL Bridging Bus)
NE1CC29 HarbourFront	Roadside along Race Course Road (Little India Station Exit E)	E
NE17PTC Punggol	B/s 2: 40019 Bt Timah Rd (Little India Stn)	B
Downtown Line (DTL Bridging Bus)
DT1–BP6 Bukit Panjang	B/s 1: 40011 Bt Timah Rd (Little India Stn Exit A)	A
DT35CG1 Expo	B/s 2: 40019 Bt Timah Rd (Little India Stn)	D

In addition, passengers can board free regular bus services at the following bus stops when activated:

• North East Line
  Bus Stop 2
• Downtown Line
  Bus Stops 1 & 2

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Passenger Usage Patterns

As an interchange station in the heart of the Little India cultural district, the station is well-utilized by many commuters heading in and out of the area, or transferring between the North East Line and Downtown Line. Various amenities in the vicinity include tourist attractions, plenty of retail shops and commercial-residential mixed developments.

Construction Trivia

North East Line Contract 706 for the design and construction of Little India and Farrer Park Stations was awarded to Hyundai Engineering & Construction – Zublin AG Joint-Venture on 26 April 1997 for $311.6 million. The working name for this station was Kandang Kerbau Station.

Downtown Line Stage 2 (DTL2) Contract 921 for the Design and Construction of Rochor and Little India stations and associated tunnels was awarded to South Korean company SsangYong Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. for approximately S$803.3 million in Jun 2009.

The construction of Little India and Rochor MRT stations presented the greatest engineering challenge of the entire Downtown Line. Construction involved over 30 stages of traffic and canal diversions, including the creation of temporary roads facilitate construction works and minimise traffic disruptions in Rochor. At $803 million, the contract to build these stations was one of the highest ever given out.

The Rochor Canal, formerly visible at ground level between Sungei Road and Rochor Canal Road, was diverted to flow underground. and expanded to increase its capacity. A 180-metre long, 40-metre wide and 8-metre high tunnel box was also built as part of advance works for the North-South Corridor, and underneath that, the concourse and platforms of Rochor station. All this had to be built in marine clay, at times having the consistency of peanut butter, and as such, infrastructure had to be stabilized firmly into the ground.

A Straits Times graphic is attached here.

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Gallery

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External Links & References

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