Bishan MRT station

Original island platform in 2006

The current platform (Platform A) serving northbound trains only.

Bishan station (then Kampung San Teng) was one of the first stations to be included in the planning stages of the MRT network.[7] The station was later renamed to San Teng in November 1982[3] and would be built in a Chinese cemetery.[8]

Contract 103 for the construction of San Teng MRT station and 3.2-kilometre (2.0 mi) of tunnels between the San Teng and Braddell stations was awarded to a Belgian and Singaporean joint venture (Hytech, Franki and Compagnie Francois d'Enterprises) in December 1983 at a contract sum of S$32.88 million (US$15.56 million). This was the first contract involving cut and cover construction awarded by the MRT Corporation (MRTC).[9] On 21 September 1984, the MRT Corporation renamed San Teng station to Bishan station to reflect the name of the new housing estate that was being built around this MRT station.[4][10]

Structural works for Bishan station was completed on 23 October 1985.[11] In January 1986, it was announced that the first section of the MRT system, from the Yio Chu Kang to Toa Payoh stations, would be opened in early 1988.[12] It was later announced in September 1987 that the section will open on 7 November that year.[13][14] As an effort for people to get familiar with the system, the station was opened for a sneak preview from 24 to 25 October.[15][16] As announced, the station was one of the first MRT stations on the network to be opened for service on 7 November 1987.[17]

CCL platforms of Bishan station.

Contract C825A for the design, construction and completion of Bishan interchange station was awarded to Econ Corporation Ltd and Eng Lim Construction Co Pte Ltd Joint Venture[18] at a sum of S$82.2 million (US$47.19 million) in July 2003. The contract also includes the upgrading of the NSL station. Construction was targeted to start in the third quarter of 2003 and was expected to be completed by early 2008.[19][20]

The original NSL station underwent major alterations. A new air-conditioned platform to serve southbound trains to Marina South Pier was constructed to increase the passenger capacity of the station from 1,250 to 2,020. The new platform, Platform B, opened for service on 27 July 2008. The station was expanded to handle increased passenger traffic when the CCL station opens.[21] As the original platform, now serving northbound trains to Jurong East, remained in service, upgrading works for the platform (Platform A) was hindered and took about a year to complete. While the re-tiling of the platform was done during the day, the Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) were installed in sections through the night. An air-conditioning system was also installed as part of the upgrade. Upgrading works for the platform were fully completed on 23 May 2009. An additional entrance to the basement of Junction 8 was also built.[22] Along with the other Stage 3 CCL stations, the CCL station were opened on 28th of that month.[23][24]

Due to the close proximity of a nearby tunnel portal to residential apartment blocks, the installaton of the 2-metre (6.6 ft) tall barriers stretching 180 metres (590 ft) in length started in September 2011 and was completed by the second quarter of 2012. It is insulated with noise absorptive materials such as rock wool, which helped reduce noises by about 5 decibels.[25][26][27] The NSL station underwent another upgrade in 2016 with the repositioning of seats at the platforms to allow more space and seats for commuters.[28]

On 28 July 2004, a 31 year old accountant died after falling on the track in front of an oncoming train at this station, disrupting train services on the northbound MRT line for an hour.[29][30] Another such incident happened to an elderly man on 15 September that year.[31]

On 7 October 2017, water got into a section of the tunnel between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations during a heavy downpour in the afternoon, which disrupted train services along 13 stations on the North South line for several hours. This case of water entering MRT tunnels is believed to be the first time it has affected train service along the NSL. Separately, at about 5.55 pm, a small fire was spotted trackside in the tunnel between the Marina Bay and Raffles Place stations, but it had died down by itself. It is not clear if it is linked to the flood, although electrical short circuits caused by water had sparked tunnel fires before.[32][33] Train services between Marina South Pier and Newton were restored on the day itself at about 9.20 pm. Train services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio were fully resumed at 1.36 pm the following day after overnight efforts to clear the water in the tunnel, after nearly 21 hours of service disruption, being one of the worst disruptions in SMRT's history.[34] It was revealed that the overflowing in the tunnel was caused by a malfunction in the water pumping system, which has since been repaired.[35]

Track layout for NSL platforms
to Ang Mo Kio to Braddell

As the name suggests, the station is located in Bishan along Bishan Road. The name Bishan is the Mandarin pronunciation of Peck San (Chinese: 碧山; pinyin: bìshān).[36] The name, in turn, was derived from the name of a large Cantonese burial ground Peck San Theng that used to cover the area.[37]

The station is situated near the retail development of Junction 8 and other public amenities such as the Bishan Public Library, CPF building, Bishan Neighbourhood Police Post, Bishan Stadium, Bishan Community Club and the Bishan Bus Interchange. It is also within walking distances to the schools of Raffles Institution, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School and the Ministry of Education Language Centre.[38]

The station serves the North South (NSL) and Circle lines (CCL). The station code is NS17/CC15 as reflected on official maps.[39] On the NSL, the station is located between the Ang Mo Kio and Braddell stations, while on the CCL, the station is located between the Lorong Chuan and Marymount stations.[39] NSL have headways of 2 to 5 minutes, while the CCL services have headways of 3.5 to 5 minutes.[40]

The entrance in front of the Junction 8 shopping mall.

The NSL station is the only ground-level MRT station on the network.[41] The station was designed to have an "open, sunken-plaza" concept allowing natural light on the tracks.[42] The station has a beige and brick coloured scheme with bougainvillaeas planted outside the station.[43] The station concourse has a steel roof cladding supplied by Robertson Building Systems (RBS) through a S$20 million (US$9.09 million) contract.[44] During the construction of the CCL, the entrance was upgraded with the intention to "capture the essence" of the station being a "gateway" to Bishan. It now features a "pyramidal" opened-top aluminium roof over the existing flat roof which allows sunlight and ventilation into the station.[45]

The retail stores around the station use glass panels which chamfered at the corners of the station, giving balance to the roof. The glass walls are separated from the roofline via a small space at the top such that the roof appears afloat. The paid area is kept spacious with a layered ceiling and design elements made of glass. A glass canopy connects the station to the retail development of Junction 8.[45]

Bishan CCL station is one of eleven stations along the Circle line designated as Civil Defence (CD) shelters, which will be activated in times of national emergency. Apart from reinforced construction, the stations are designed and equipped with facilities to ensure the shelter environment is tolerable for all during shelter occupation. These facilities include protective blast doors, decontamination facilities, ventilation systems, power and water supply systems and a dry toilet system.[46]

One of the murals of Move! along the station's passageway to the CCL.

An artwork Move! by Soh Ee Shaun is displayed at the CCL station as part of the network's Art-in-Transit programme.[lower-alpha 1] The artwork consists of three murals - The Family, The Scientist and The Heartland - made of 16 glass panels each cast in film.[47] The artwork reflects the artist's view on the "mindless rush of commuters" through the station.[48][49] The Family, a 3-by-8.7-metre (9.8 by 28.5 ft) mural mainly in yellow and black, depicts ordinary activities part of Singapore's "air-conditioned" lifestyle, while The Scientist portrays "larger-than-life" scientists surrounded by a gallery of modern technology such as rockets, robots and fighter jets in blue and black on a 3-by-7.2-metre (9.8 by 23.6 ft) canvas. The Heartland, on a 2.9-by-8.2-metre (9.5 by 26.9 ft) panel, represents the neighbourhood of Bishan, with notable landmarks of the neighbourhood against the pink backdrop.[49]

The artist was one of the youngest artists for the CCL artworks and was picked for Bishan as it was believed his dynamic drawings would be engaging to the youth and families in the town.[50] Soh initially planned to create an abstract work of people moving around to reflect the bustle of a train station. However, it was thought to be "too literal" and the curator Karen Lim, who was guiding the artist in his work, urged Soh to include thematic stories into the work.[49]

Hence, each of the three art walls he was assigned to adopted a subject matter. Soh did not manage to find inspiration from his first visit to Bishan and instead drew up murals centred on general life in Singapore – Garden Circus, The Control Room and The Living Room. The latter two developed into The Scientist and The Family respectively. For Garden Circus, however, which illustrates the "pace of life" in Singapore, was pulled out as it was considered "not strong enough conceptually".[51] To overcome the mental block, the artist made another trip to Bishan and found inspiration for The Heartland. These artworks, although using different subject matters, adopts the artist's "silly and illogical" style with his illustrations. Usually, Soh's drawings are spontaneous, with the concepts produced "as an afterthought". In this work, however, Soh first drew up various drafts and worked out how to fuse the different parts into the final product. Being aware that his work will be a long-term feature in the station, Soh heavily considered what he was going to illustrate so that his work would remain relevant throughout time.[51]

The work was subsequently reproduced digitally and enlarged to fit on the walls. Soh inspected each of the panels shipped from overseas and oversaw the installation of his work in the station with the cooperation of the station architects and production team. As a tribute to them, the artist inserted workers with construction hats on The Heartland.[51] Soh was grateful for the guidance from the curator, as this was one of his first major works ever since he started drawing seriously two years ago. The curator had suggested to the artist to "tone down" his murals so as to avoid the viewers being "drawn away" from the narratives. Lim also guided the artist when to pause as Soh kept inserting more features and altering the work. Soh reflected that this work allowed him to mature as an artist, and hoped that the work will "liven up" the plain environment of the station and provide something fresh to the commuters and brighten up their day.[50]

Art Seats Matrix at the CCL platforms

In addition to the murals, the CCL station features two sets of Art Seats, designed to enhance the commuters' experience on the line.[52] Two entries were selected through the International Art Seats Design Competition in 2006. The first entry – Matrix, which received the top prize in the international competition, consists of a series of benches engraved with the station name in a dot-matrix style on the seat surface. The dot-matrix system was used as it was flexible enough to be used across stations and could be mass-produced. Another entry, Rain, showcases steel seats in the shape of water puddles, unlike the ordinary solid and stone seats in other MRT stations.[lower-alpha 2][53]

Being located on the former burial site of the Peck San Theng, the station was rumoured to be haunted. In response to the calls and letters from light-night passengers claiming to witness headless ghosts at the station, The New Paper went to investigate in October 1988 but did not uncover any ghosts. Interviewing the MRTC, the operator has said the operations and their staff have not been impacted by any alleged "sightings", although it confirmed the station was at the site of the former cemetery.[54]

In April 2005, The Straits Times investigated and debunked several accounts of ghosts at the station. One account mentioned being in a late-night train which did not stop at the station. When the passenger confronted the driver, the driver claimed to see 50 people at the station, while the commuter had seen only 10 to 15 of them. The operator, now SMRT Trains, confirmed that trains do bypass stations sometimes, although usually these trains are empty. The operator added that the train could have bypassed the station when it failed to stop at the station "due to a technical fault".[55]

The station was well-known with its tales of headless figures alighting and boarding at the station, with one version mentioning about a ghost sitting in the last car with its decapitated head on the adjacent seat. Such tales likely originated from the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng columbarium, which now houses 45,000 urns, according to the Singapore Paranormal Investigators (SPI).[lower-alpha 3] The article also mentioned a first-hand account by a former civil servant who claimed to have passed out while taking the train in 1991. She claimed to have felt many groping hands before fainting after the train pulled out of Bishan station.[55] In a field investigation, The Straits Times reported no encounters of any ghosts.[55]