Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) – Wikipedia

Principal metro system serving Singapore

The Mass Rapid Transit system, locally known by the initialism MRT, is a rapid transit system in Singapore and the island country’s principal mode of railway transportation. The system commenced operations in November 1987 after two decades of planning with an initial 6 km (3.7 mi) stretch consisting of five stations. The network has since grown to span the length and breadth of the country’s main island – with the exception of the forested core and the rural northwestern region – in accordance with Singapore’s aim of developing a comprehensive rail network as the backbone of the country’s public transportation system,^{[note 9]} averaging a daily ridership of 3.4 million in 2019.^{[1][note 10]}

The MRT network encompasses 231 km (144 mi) of grade-separated route on standard gauge. There are 134 operational stations (30 of which are interchange stations) dispersed across six lines arrayed in a circle-radial topology. The network is scheduled to double in length to about 450 km (280 mi) by 2040 as a result of ongoing extension works to its existing lines and the construction of three new lines.^[5] The island-wide heavy rail network interchanges with a series of automated guideway transit networks localised to select suburban towns—collectively known as the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system—that complement the mainline by providing a last mile link between MRT stations and HDB public housing estates.^{[6][note 11]}

The MRT is the oldest, busiest, and most comprehensive metro system in Southeast Asia.^{[note 12]} Capital expenditure on its rail infrastructure reached a cumulative S$150 billion^{[note 13]} in 2021, making the network one of the world’s costliest on both a per-kilometre and absolute basis.^{[7][8][9][10][note 14]} The system is managed in conformity with a semi-nationalised hybrid regulatory framework; construction and procurement fall under the purview of the Land Transport Authority (LTA), a statutory board of the government that allocates operating concessions to the for-profit private corporations SMRT and SBS Transit. These operators are responsible for asset maintenance on their respective lines, and also run bus services, facilitating operational synchronicity and the horizontal integration of the broader public transportation network.

The MRT is fully automated and has an extensive driverless rapid transit system.^[11][12] Asset renewal works are periodically carried out to modernise the network and ensure its continued reliability; all stations feature platform screen doors, Wi-Fi connectivity, lifts, climate control, and accessibility provisions, among others. Much of the early network is elevated above ground on concrete viaducts, with a small portion running at-grade; newer lines are largely subterranean, incorporating several of the lengthiest continuous subway tunnel sections in the world. A number of underground stations double as purpose-built air raid shelters under the operational authority of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF); these stations incorporate deep-level station boxes cast with hardened concrete and blast doors fashioned out of reinforced steel to withstand conventional aerial and chemical ordnance.

History[edit]

Planning and inception[edit]

The origins of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) were derived from a forecast by the country’s planners back in 1967 which stated the need for a rail-based urban transport system by 1992.^[13][14][15] However, opposition from the government on the feasibility of the MRT from prominent ministers, among them Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and Trades and Industry Minister Tony Tan, nearly shuttered the program due to financial grounds and concerns of jobs saturation in the construction industry.^[16] Dr Goh instead endorsed the idea of an all-bus system recommended by Harvard University specialists, who argued would reduce the cost by 50% compared to the proposed MRT system. Public opinion was split on the matter, with several expressing concerns on the high cost and others being more focused on increasing the standard of living. Following a debate on whether a bus-only system would be more cost-effective, Communications Minister Ong Teng Cheong came to the conclusion that an all-bus system would be inadequate, as it would have to compete for road space in a land-scarce country. Ong was an architect and town planner by training and through his perseverance and dedication became the main figure behind the initial construction of the system.^[17][18]

Construction begins[edit]

Singapore’s MRT infrastructure is built, operated, and managed in accordance with a hybridised quasi-nationalised regulatory framework called the New Rail Financing Framework (NRFF), in which the lines are constructed and the assets owned by the Land Transport Authority, a…