Commuters in the east will soon have more MRT links to the city and the northern parts of Singapore with the new Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), reported The Straits Times.

The eastern stretch of the TEL will have nine stations running from Sungei Bedok to Tanjong Rhu. The line will then connect northwards to 22 other stations. The stations along the northern stretch were announced earlier under the Thomson Line.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Friday the station locations along the eastern stretch, or what was originally referred to as the Eastern Region Line.

The 13km eastern stretch will run through the neighbourhoods of Tanjong Rhu, Katong Park, Amber, Marine Parade, Marine Terrace, Siglap, Bayshore, Bedok South and Sungei Bedok. The first seven stations, from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore, will be ready in 2023. The stations in Bedok South and Sungei Bedok will be ready in 2024.

The TEL will also connect with the Downtown Line which will have a new extension consisting of the Xilin station and the Sungei Bedok interchange station. This is to improve public transport accessibility to the Changi Business Park and Expo areas.

The world's first four-in-one train and bus depot will also be built with the TEL. It will house buses and trains for the TEL, East-West Line and Downtown Line. The 36-hectare depot can house about 220 trains and 550 buses and integrating the depot for both buses and trains will help to save close to 60 football fields of land space.

To make way for the construction of the eastern stretch of the line however, six landed properties along Amber Road and a three-storey apartment along Tanjong Katong Road will be acquired. Tenders for the Thomson-East Coast Line will be put out next year and construction is expected to start in 2016.