Singapore MRT

Singapore MRT (31 July 2017)


Singapore Mass Rapid Transit or Singapore MRT is an urban railway system that spans the entire island of Singapore. When it opened in 1987, it was the second metro line in Southeast Asia after Manila's LRT system. The trains are reliable, comfortable and inexpensive. Sometimes they do get quite crowded, especially upon approaching downtown, but on the whole, they are good enough for me.

At the moment, there are 87 MRT Stations and four MRT lines in operation, with a total of 129.7 km of track, with more under construction. All built stations are operational except for the Woodleigh MRT Station.

The Singapore MRT is projected to have a network totaling 278 km of tracks by 2020. There will be four more lines at various stages of construction namely the Circle Line, Downtown Line, Thomson-East Coast MRT Line and Eastern Region Line.

Map of Singapore MRT

Singapore MRT Lines

Other Singapore Rail Transport Lines

For the convenience of viewing all of Singapore's rail lines on one page, I am also listing down Singapore's other rail transportation lines.

List of Train Stations

Paying for your rides

You can purchase single-journey tokens from machines, but I would recommend that you purchase the EZ Link stored-value smartcard. For longer-distance travel, using the EZ Link card is cheaper than using the tokens, plus, you don't have to buy tokens for each visit. Moreoever, with the EZ Link card, your journey is not fixed - you can still change your decision and exit at a different MRT stations.

I first purchased my EZ Link card the moment I arrived at Changi Airport. That was some years ago. When I returned to Singapore in 2017, I returned to the customer service counter with my EZ Link card, but was told that the card has expired. The good news, however, is that I could get replacement card (I believe I have to pay a small amount for the replacement card, at the same price as getting a brand new card), and transfer all the balance I had in the old card.

When the value on your EZ Link card runs low, you can top it up at the machine. There are two types. The first one, called the General Ticketing Machine, accepts notes, coins, ATM cards and credit cards, while the second accepts only ATM cards.

EZ Link General Ticketing Machine, which accepts notes, coins, ATM cards and credit cards. (26 July 2017)


The EZ Link top up machine that accepts ATM cards. (26 July 2017)


You pass through the turnstile to enter as well as to exit from the station platform. To open the gate, touch your EZ Link card to the sensor, and the screen above the sensor will show you the amount of stored value you have left in the card.

MRT Station turnstile (26 July 2017)


EZ Link sensor - touch your card on the sensor, not on the screen with the arrow (26 July 2017)

List of MRT Stations in Asia by country

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