The Mass Rapid Transit system, commonly known as the MRT, is a rapid transit system that makes up the railways in Singapore, covering most of the city-state.
Following two decades of planning, the system began operations in November 1987 with 5 stations spread over of track. The network has since grown quickly in accordance with Singapore's aim of developing a complex rail network as the core of the country's public transportation system, averaging a daily ridership of 3.384 million in 2019. The MRT is known as one of the best rapid transit system in the world.
It is a rapid transit system which links the different places of Singapore together using a network, or different connections of trains. When a person travels from one place to another, he or she boards a train in a train station and then the train moves until the train reaches the place he or she wants to come out, or alight from. Sometimes he or she has to change trains.
Overview
About 3.4 million passengers use the MRT everyday. The system is 231 km long and has 134 stations. Trains run from 5:30 am to 1:00 am every day except for the festive periods, such as Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year's Eve. A train comes every 2–3 minutes in peak hours, every 7 minutes during off-peak hours and 5–6 minutes for the weekend service. It is operated by Singapore's SMRT Corporation and SBS Transit.
There are currently 6 lines in the MRT system, where they are connected by special stops called interchanges. The lines are North South Line, East West Line, North East Line, Circle Line, Downtown Line and the Thomson-East Coast Line.
On 16 December 2011, the MRT network suffered what is likely to be the worst breakdown in its 24-year operating history. 'A power rail problem' made North-South Line trains suddenly lose power and stopped in darkness and without air conditioning for up to an hour accompanied only by light from mobile phones.
Network
Openings
7 November 1987: Yio Chu Kang - Toa Payoh
12 December 1987: Toa Payoh - Outram Park
12 March 1988: Outram Park - Clementi
5 November 1988: Clementi – Lakeside
20 December 1988: Yio Chu Kang – Yishun
4 November 1989: Marina Bay – Tanah Merah
16 December 1989: Tanah Merah – Pasir Ris
10 March 1990: Jurong East – Choa Chu Kang
6 July 1990: Lakeside – Boon Lay
10 February 1996: Yishun – Choa Chu Kang
10 January 2001: Tanah Merah – Expo
18 October 2001: Dover
8 February 2002: Expo – Changi Airport
20 June 2003: HarbourFront – Punggol
28 February 2009: Boon Lay – Joo Koon
28 May 2009: Bartley – Marymount
17 April 2010: Bartley – Dhoby Ghaut
8 October 2011: Marymount – HarbourFront
14 January 2012: Promenade - Marina Bay
22 December 2013: Bugis - Chinatown
23 November 2014: Marina Bay - Marina South Pier
27 December 2015: Bukit Panjang - Bugis
18 June 2017: Joo Koon - Tuas Link
21 October 2017: Chinatown - Expo
2 November 2019: Canberra MRT station
31 January 2020: Woodlands North - Woodlands South
28 August 2021: Springleaf - Caldecott
13 November 2022: Stevens - Gardens by the Bay
Expansion
The MRT system only had two lines, the North South and East West Lines, for more than ten years until the opening of the North East Line in 2003. While plans for these lines, as well as those being built, were made long before, the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) proposal named "A World Class Land Transport System" in 1996 showed that the government wanted to greatly expand on the existing system. The plans allow for the long-term replacement of the bus network by rail-based transportation as the main way of public transportation. It called for the expansion of the 67 kilometres of track in 1995 to over 360 in the year 2030. It was expected that daily ridership in 2030 would have grown to 6.0 million from the current 1.4 million passengers.
Thomson-East Coast Line
The 43-kilometre Thomson-East Coast Line was planned to be completed by 2025 and will consist of 32 stations. It was originally planned to be completed by 2024 but this plan was changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will connect to the North South Line at Woodlands station, Orchard and Marina Bay, to the Circle Line at Thomson, Caldecott and Marina Bay, to the Downtown Line at Stevens and Sungei Bedok, and to the East West and North East lines at Outram Park. The first part, or stage, opened in 2019.