Originally projected to be opened in 2012, then Minister for Transport, Mr Raymond Lim, announced on 12 February 2009 that the date was pushed forward by a year, to 2011. Construction started in 2009 and was completed and handed over to the operator at around the first quarter of 2011, with the new platforms and track being tested since then, before the announcement on 16 May 2011 about its operation date on 27 May 2011. To connect the new train tracks to the existing tracks, train services between Joo Koon and Clementi were halted on 4 & 5 September 2010 (affected substation is Chinese Garden, Ulu Pandan and possibly Dover), followed by train services between Jurong East and Bukit Gombak on 18 & 19 September 2010 (affected substation is Bukit Gombak).