Toa Payoh is a district located in the Central Region of Singapore.It commonly refers to

the Housing and Development Board (HDB) housing estate of Toa Payoh New Town,

one of the earliest satellite public housing estates in Singapore.

Toa Payoh MRT Station was the first MRT station in Singapore to be completed,

topping out in 1985, this makes it the first station with platform screen doors in the world.

This station was among the first phase of MRT stations to be opened in Singapore in 1987.

The first phase included the stations from Toa Payoh to Yio Chu Kang. Today, the concourse area bears the inauguration plate of Singapore's MRT system.Toa Payoh Bus Interchange is the first airconditioned bus interchange in the country, which was completed in 2002 and officially opened by then Transport Minister, Yeo Cheow Tong, on 19 May 2002. The bus interchange has only ervices of SBS Transit and is managed by the company itself. It has a direct connection from the us interchange to the Toa Payoh MRT Station on the North South Line.When the old Toa Payoh.

Bus Interchange was demolished in 1999 to make way for the building of HDB Hub, the new

and current headquarters of the Housing and Development Board of Singapore, the inhange's operator, SBS Transit, moved its bus operations to a temporary location opposite

its original site located at Toa Payoh Town Park, which was upgraded after the temporary

interchange was demolished.Toa Payoh New Town is the second oldest new town in Singapore,

developed since 1962. It is home to the HDB Hub and hosts one of the country's three

airconditioned bus interchanges, the other two being the one in Sengkang and Ang Mo Kio.

It boasts excellent sporting facilities, including a stadium, an indoor sports hall and the country's

best swimming complex, where the SEA Games swimming competition was held at. These are

also the venues for several of the National Schools sports competitions. There is a plethora of

shophouses in Toa Payoh Central that participate in the annual Great Singapore Sale. Outside

the central area, the Singapore Press Holdings main office can also be found.

The town centre was the first prototype in Singapore. It is surrounded by separated

neighbourhoods, each with its own shopping amenities and community centres, well served by

a network of vehicular roads and generous open space separating them. The result, as in the

English new towns of the 1950s, is that residents tend less to travel to the main town centre

but rather to shop within their neighbourhood; if they travel, they go to Orchard Road or the

town area via the MRT system, at the Toa Payoh MRT Station and the Braddell MRT Station,

or public bus services at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange.

The Housing and Development Board decided to allocate a large area of the Toa Payoh New

Town for a gardenlandscaped park, the Toa Payoh Town Garden, despite the pressure on

land here for housing.

The town garden used to be popular with visitors who came from near and far to enjoy the display of willows, bamboos and the brilliant reds and yellows of the Delonix regia trees.

At the heart of the garden is a 0.8 ha carp pond which contains a waterfall and a cluster of

islands linked by bridges. The islands are arranged to provide a sequence of delightful

walking experiences not only by day but also by night when the garden is lit. The garden

is buffered from the noise and nighttime glare of passing traffic along Jalan Toa Payoh by

an elevated slope planted with thick rows of Angsanas. There are also a children's

playground, seating areas and outdoor chessboard, a tea kiosk and a 27metre high viewing

tower.

Toa Payoh Town Garden was partially closed in 1999 to make way for a temporary bus

interchange. After the new Toa Payoh Bus Interchange at the HDB Hub was completed in
June 2002, the temporary bus interchange was converted to a landscaped park. Toa Payoh

Town Garden was subsequently renamed as Toa Payoh Town Park.

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