Dakota MRT station

Dakota MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Circle line in Geylang planning area, Singapore, next to Geylang River.

Dakota  CC8  达科达 டகோட்டா
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station
Platform A of Dakota MRT station with featured artwork in November 2017.
General information
Location	201 Old Airport Road Singapore 397973
Coordinates	1°18′30″N 103°53′18″E
Operated by	SMRT Trains Ltd (SMRT Corporation)
Line(s)	Circle Line
Platforms	2 (1 island platform)
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus, Taxi
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Platform levels	1
Parking	Yes (External)
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	17 April 2010; 15 years ago (2010-04-17)
Electrified	Yes
Previous names	Tanjong Katong, Dunman[1]
Passengers
June 2024	7,870 per day[2]
Services
Preceding station Mass Rapid Transit Following station Mountbatten towards Dhoby Ghaut or Marina Bay Circle Line Paya Lebar towards HarbourFront
Location Dakota Dakota station in Singapore

Located along Old Airport Road between the junctions of Jalan Dua and Dakota Crescent, Dakota station took its name from the Douglas DC-3 aircraft, commonly referred to as the Dakota, that used to frequently land at the former Kallang Airport. This station primarily serves the Dakota Crescent Estate, and is within walking distance to Mountbatten MRT station and Grand Dunman.^[3]

History

Exit B of Dakota MRT station in July 2019.

Before the station was built, it was given the working name Tanjong Katong. From 20 August to 14 October 2004, names were shortlisted for the Circle Line Stage 1-3 stations for public polling, with Dakota and Dunman being the shortlisted names for this station. On 6 July 2005, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced the results of the naming exercise, where Dakota was finalised as the name of the station after being selected by 37.6% of the respondents (ahead of Dunman with 37.4%).^[4]

The Circle Line contract was awarded to Nishimatsu-Lum Chang Joint Venture for Contract 823, between Mountbatten and Paya Lebar stations.

Due to the tight corridor of the Old Airport Road, it was the first station to have the full road closure. Guillemard Camp Road was temporary widened to allow public buses enough space to drive through and was given to the LTA from MINDEF. The closed stretch was reopened on 29 December 2008, and Guillemard Camp Road was returned back to MINDEF, before giving back to the state land with the closure and demolition of Guillemard Camp in 2020. The existing site became a HDB prime-based BTO flat.^[5]

Location

The station is located along Old Airport Road at the junction of Jalan Dua and beside the Geylang River. It has two exits; Exit A is located at Jalan Dua and serves nearby locations such as Chung Cheng High School, Eton House International School, and Old Airport Road Market & Food Court. Exit B is located at Dakota Crescent and serves Broadrick Secondary School, WaterBank at Dakota, Dakota Residence, Mountbatten Neighbourhood Police Post and Geylang Park Connector.

Name

The station is named after the nearby Dakota Crescent Estate that it serves, which in turn is named after the Douglas DC-3, which was commonly referred to as the Dakota and often landed and took off from the nearby Kallang Airport. The naming of the estate may also be a commemoration of a disaster that occurred on 29 June 1946, when a Royal Air Force Dakota aircraft crashed at Kallang Airport in a thunderstorm, resulting in the deaths of everyone on board.^[6]

Art in Transit

The artwork featured in this station is Little things, little stories by A Dose of Light (Ang Song Nian and Zhao Renhui). This artwork narrates an open-ended story of Dakota Crescent through the objects inside residents’ homes, along the HDB flat corridors and shared outdoor spaces which attempt to chronicle a visual history and narrative of the space before the station is built.^[7]