Joo Koon MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit station along the East West Line in Pioneer planning area, Singapore. Joo Koon station is named after Joo Koon Village, a rural Chinese settlement that once stood in the area before it was turned into an industrial estate in the 1960s. It was the western terminus of the East West Line from 28 February 2009 to 18 June 2017, until Tuas Link station was built. Two out of three trains terminate at this station during off-peak hours, alternate trains terminate at this station during peak hours.
History
Built along with Pioneer, it was part of the Boon Lay MRT Extension project announced by the Land Transport Authority in December 2004 to help people working in the Jurong Industrial Area travel faster. The station opened on 28 February 2009 together with Pioneer. It replaced Boon Lay as the western terminus of the East West Line from its opening until 18 June 2017, when the Tuas West Extension to Tuas Link began operations. As with most of the above-ground stations built in the past along the East West Line, it was built without platform screen doors that prevent commuters from falling onto the train tracks. Installations of the half-height platform screen doors were eventually started on 16 May 2011. On 26 July that year, all of the platform screen doors at the station have been installed and began operating. The station was installed with high-volume low-speed fans, in operation since 19 August 2012.
Tuas West Extension
On 18 June 2017, Tuas Link station took over Joo Koon station as the western terminus, as part of the opening of the Tuas West Extension. At that time, every other westbound train continued to terminate at this station,It was planned to remain that way until the entire line was upgraded to the new signalling system by the end of 2018.
On 15 November 2017 at approximately 8.18am, 2 C151A trains collided at Joo Koon MRT station. A train fault caused the first train heading in the direction of Tuas Link to stall at the station. A minute later, a second train stopped behind the first and then "moved forward unexpectedly", resulting in the collision. 36 passengers and 2 SMRT staff sustained light to moderate injuries, and have been conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and National University Hospital. This is the second of such incidents after 5 August 1993, with the first being when 2 C151 trains collided at Clementi. As a result, train services between Tuas Link and Boon Lay stations were temporally suspended on both directions for 2 hours on the day itself and for the entire day on 16 November that year, resulting that the westbound trains would terminate at Boon Lay station. An update by the Land Transport Authority & SMRT on that day stated that LTA and SMRT have decided to isolate for up to one month for the operations of the Tuas West Extension, which runs on the new signalling system, from the rest of the East West Line, which runs on the old signalling system. This will enable LTA engineers to carry out further assurance checks together with Thales. Train service on the Tuas West Extension between Gul Circle and Tuas Link resumed operations on 20 November that year, using the new signalling system. The rest of the East West Line continues to run on the old signalling system between Pasir Ris and Joo Koon. However, train services between Joo Koon and Gul Circle were suspended till 27 May 2018, and free bridging bus service is available between these two stations. Continuous service to Tuas Link resumed in stages.
