[2] It was to be constructed as part of the Phase I MRT segment from Novena station, due to be completed by December 1987;[3][4] The segment was given priority because it transits areas with a higher demand for public transport, such as the densely populated housing estates of Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio, and the Central Area.

[11][12] From 28 October 1989, Outram Park station began to serve the East–West Line (EWL) with the operational split of the MRT system.

[15] By 1995 the planned line had been extended to include an additional new stop, the World Trade Centre MRT station (now called HarbourFront).

To handle the varying soil conditions along the route of the NEL tunnels, a dual-mode tunnel-boring machine was used to construct them, a first in Singapore.

[26] On 29 August 2012, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced Outram Park station would interchange with the proposed Thomson Line.

[27] At the same time, the Singapore Land Authority announced the acquisition of Pearls Centre, a residential-commercial building, giving residents three years to vacate the premises to facilitate tunneling works under the complex.

[29] On 9 March 2022, Transport Minister S Iswaran announced in Parliament Phase 3 (Caldecott to Gardens by the Bay via Napier) would open in the second half of 2022.

[30] Contract T222 for the construction of Outram Park TEL platform and associated tunnels was awarded to Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd (now DL E&C) at a cost of S$301 million in May 2014.

[32] On 7 October 2022, during a visit by Transport Minister S. Iswaran to Outram Park and Maxwell stations, it was announced the TEL platform would begin operations on 13 November that year.

[41][42] When it opened, it had the station code of W2[43] before being changed to the current alphanumeric style in August 2001 as a part of a system-wide campaign to cater to the expanding MRT System.

One of the pieces depicts Chinese opera and law or medicine, and represents visual memories of the surrounding area.