On 29 August 2012, then Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew visited and inspected the station site, where he announced the alignment of the Thomson line. The station held an open house on 7 December 2013, with surrounding businesses marking the event by giving various offers to patrons. Telok Ayer station commenced operations on 22 December along with the DTL Stage 1 stations. As part of LTA's review of the DTL station Tamil names to make them phonetically closer to the English names, Telok Ayer's Tamil name was amended in 2016.