SINGAPORE: Passengers transferring between different rail lines will be paying less as transfer rules are relaxed at the end of the year, the Public Transport Council (PTC) said on Thursday (Mar 22).

With more rail lines and more commuters taking a combination of train rides to get to their destinations, some are walking or taking buses to nearby MRT stations to make transfers. These commuters incur additional boarding charges of 77 cents each time under the current transfer rules.



When the new rules take effect later this year, there will be no additional boarding charges for commuters who transfer between two different MRT or LRT stations within 15 minutes.

In an illustration provided by the PTC, a trip from Little India to Bendemeer with a transfer at Rochor to Jalan Besar station will cost 77 cents under the new rules, down from S$1.54 currently.

Such a trip will take 15 minutes and be 39 cents cheaper than a non-stop ride from Little India to Bendemeer, which takes 20 minutes.



In another illustration, a commuter travelling from Marsiling MRT station to Bakau LRT station who takes a bus from Woodlands to Sengkang, instead of taking only the train, will shorten the journey by about 8km. This costs S$2.49 currently but will cost S$1.78 with the new rules.

All other transfer rules will remain, the PTC said, including one that requires journeys to be within two hours of first boarding and the cap of five transfers per journey.



The council estimated that 6,000 daily journeys can have shorter travel times and lower fares with these changes.

"We expect even more commuters to benefit eventually as they adjust their current travel routes to take advantage of the new transfer rules," the council said.

The council also announced that the public transport fare adjustment formula will be changed to reflect the change in transport network capacity.