SINGAPORE: With new train stations to be built and major road works to be done in the next five years, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) can expect to be allocated a significant amount in this year's Budget, experts told Channel NewsAsia.
The ministry's estimated expenditure was about S$11 billion in the 2015 Budget, ranking fourth behind the Defence, Education and National Development ministries.
Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Sitoh Yih Pin said he expected that the MOT's budget would be among the top few ministries in expenditure dollars this year.
According to the MOT's Addendum, it will cost the Government S$36 billion to achieve a car-lite society for Singapore. The Government is expected to invest this amount over the next five years, as it seeks to improve rail reliability and make public transport the preferred way to get around.
“MOT has rolled out a whole series of plans and initiatives to make our transport system more efficient and more effective," he said. "These are big ticket items, they require a lot of expenditure."
The major items include building 30 more MRT stations as part of the Cross Island Line, plans to add a new MRT line or extension every year for the next five years and major renewal works for the North-South and East-West lines expected to be completed by 2018.
Two major road projects are also in the works. The new North-South Expressway will be redesigned to be part of a North-South Corridor, complete with cycling and walking paths. Two car lanes on Bencoolen Street will also become footpaths lined with trees and benches, with a cycling path connecting Rochor Canal and Bukit Timah to the CBD.
Meanwhile, Changi Airport's Terminal 4 and Project Jewel will begin operations within the next few years, with Terminal 5 expected to be completed in the second half of the 2020s.
The third and fourth phases of the S$3.5 billion Pasir Panjang Terminal expansion plans are also set to be ready by end 2017.