HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE MRT SYSTEM?

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE MRT SYSTEM?
With many new Mass Rapid Transit(MRT) lines under construction, it is very easy to lose track of newdevelopments on the MRT system. It becomes harder and harder tomemorise all MRT stations names and the sequence of the stations asSingapore’s MRT system has changed so much for the past 10 years or so.According to the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA), with anetwork of 142 stations across the island and more to come, the MRT andLRT system is one of the most popular modes of transport in Singaporewith a ridership of well over 2 million passengers a day. Projects likethe fully opened Circle Line, the upcoming Downtown Line as well as thefuture Thomson and Eastern Region Lines will expand the coveragefurther. This reminds me of quite an intriguing online post about“Future MRT lines” that got circulated a few years back. SpeculativeMRT lines (source:http://l.yimg.com/cv/ae/ap/default/111012/speculativemrt.jpg) Such aspeculative map was not endorsed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA)or any government bodies and thus, we cannot be sure of how theSingapore’s MRT lines will look like in the future. Although new plansand projects are already in place, we may need to wait until 2030 tosee how these are realised. If you are thinking of buying investmentproperties next to an MRT station, by all means do your due diligenceto check instead of relying on speculative sources to avoid anexpensive mistake! So, how well do we know the MRT system? The study ofpublic transportation system in Singapore started in 1967 and TheComprehensive Traffic Study in 1981 showed that an all-bus system inSingapore was not practical and efficient. A mass transit rail systemwas recommended instead. Thus, after more than 10 years of feasibilitystudies, the decision to build a rail-based MRT system was finally madein May 1982. Construction started shortly at Toa Payoh and Novena aftera ground breaking ceremony held at Shan Road on 22 October 1983. On 7November 1987, the MRT system began operations. On 12 March 1988, theMRT system was officially launched by the then Prime Minister Lee KuanYew. Operated by SBS Transit, the NEL opened to the public on 20 June2003. The NEL was the world’s first fully-automated heavy rail systemwhen it came into operation. The Circle Line was launched in stageswith the fully completed line opening on 8 October 2011. Some DowntownLine stations opened on 22 December 2013. In its 2013 annual report,the LTA committed to doubling the number of MRT interchanges from 15 to30 and increasing the rail network to 360 km. The objective was to have8 in 10 Singaporean households within a 10-min walk from a MRT stationby 2030. We can look forward to new MRT lines such as the Cross IslandLine, Eastern Region Line, Jurong Region Line, Circle Line Stage 6,Downtown Line Extension, and North East Line Extension.

With many new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines under construction, it is very easy to lose track of new developments on the MRT system. It becomes harder and harder to memorise all MRT stations names and the sequence of the stations as Singapore’s MRT system has changed so much for the past 10 years or so.

According to the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA), with a network of 142 stations across the island and more to come, the MRT and LRT system is one of the most popular modes of transport in Singapore with a ridership of well over 2 million passengers a day. Projects like the fully opened Circle Line, the upcoming Downtown Line as well as the future Thomson and Eastern Region Lines will expand the coverage further.

This reminds me of quite an intriguing online post about “Future MRT lines” that got circulated a few years back.

Speculative MRT lines 

(source: http://l.yimg.com/cv/ae/ap/default/111012/speculativemrt.jpg)

Such a speculative map was not endorsed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) or any government bodies and thus, we cannot be sure of how the Singapore’s MRT lines will look like in the future. Although new plans and projects are already in place, we may need to wait until 2030 to see how these are realised.

If you are thinking of buying investment properties next to an MRT station, by all means do your due diligence to check instead of relying on speculative sources to avoid an expensive mistake!

So, how well do we know the MRT system?

The study of public transportation system in Singapore started in 1967 and The Comprehensive Traffic Study in 1981 showed that an all-bus system in Singapore was not practical and efficient. A mass transit rail system was recommended instead. Thus, after more than 10 years of feasibility studies, the decision to build a rail-based MRT system was finally made in May 1982. Construction started shortly at Toa Payoh and Novena after a ground breaking ceremony held at Shan Road on 22 October 1983. On 7 November 1987, the MRT system began operations. On 12 March 1988, the MRT system was officially launched by the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Operated by SBS Transit, the NEL opened to the public on 20 June 2003. The NEL was the world’s first fully-automated heavy rail system when it came into operation. The Circle Line was launched in stages with the fully completed line opening on 8 October 2011. Some Downtown Line stations opened on 22 December 2013.

In its 2013 annual report, the LTA committed to doubling the number of MRT interchanges from 15 to 30 and increasing the rail network to 360 km. The objective was to have 8 in 10 Singaporean households within a 10-min walk from a MRT station by 2030. We can look forward to new MRT lines such as the Cross Island Line, Eastern Region Line, Jurong Region Line, Circle Line Stage 6,Downtown Line Extension, and North East Line Extension.

Contributor: Jeffrey Pramudita, Intern, MA Student (Language Studies), NUS