The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is a rapid transit system in Singapore and the country's principal mode of public transport. Owned by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the system spans and has six lines: the North–South Line (NSL), East–West Line (EWL), North East Line (NEL), Circle Line (CCL), Downtown Line (DTL), and Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL). The MRT has two operators: SMRT Trains and SBS Transit. SMRT operates the NSL, EWL, CCL, and TEL, whilst SBS operates the NEL and DTL. Two MRT lines – the Jurong Region Line (JRL) and the Cross Island Line (CRL) – are under construction. As of 2025, the MRT serves 3.49 million passengers a day. As of July 2026, there are 146 stations in operation, all of which are wheelchair accessible. Some MRT stations are public civil defence shelters, which protect occupants from attacks during a wartime emergency. Additionally, most NEL, CCL, DTL, and TEL stations in operation, as well as two NSL stations, have public artworks as part of the Art in Transit programme.

All MRT lines pass through the Central Area. With 35 stations, the EWL starts from Pasir Ris and terminates at Tuas Link, serving areas such as Tampines, Bedok, Queenstown, Clementi, and Jurong West. At Tanah Merah station, the line splits into a branch service, the Changi Airport Extension (CAE); the CAE service operates from Tanah Merah to Changi Airport stations. The NSL, with 27 stations, starts from Jurong East and terminates at Marina South Pier. The line goes through areas such as Choa Chu Kang, Sembawang, Yishun, and Toa Payoh. The NEL, serving 17 stations, starts from HarbourFront and terminates at Punggol Coast; the areas the line passes through outside of the Central Area include Serangoon, Hougang, Sengkang, and Punggol.

The CCL serves 33 stations, of which 30 operate within a closed loop. Areas passed through by the CCL include Geylang, Serangoon, Toa Payoh, Queenstown, and Bukit Merah. The remaining three stations, Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah and Esplanade, are part of a branch line between Dhoby Ghaut and Promenade; trains on this service terminate at Prince Edward Road during peak hours, and at Stadium during non-peak hours. The DTL starts from Bukit Panjang and terminates at Expo, serving 35 stations in areas such as Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah, Geylang, Bedok, and Changi; the line also crosses itself in a loop in the Central Area. With 27 stations, the TEL spans from Woodlands North to Bayshore stations and passes through areas such as Woodlands, Mandai, Ang Mo Kio, and Marine Parade.

There are nine standalone terminal stations, 21 interchange stations, and six stations that are both terminal and interchange stations. There are 25 stations connected to bus interchanges, whilst four stations interchange with the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. Changi Airport station offers connections to Changi Airport Terminals 2 and 3, and Marina South Pier and HarbourFront stations have connections to ferry services; HarbourFront is also connected with the Singapore Cable Car and Sentosa Express. There are four non-operational stations planned to open in the future, which are Bukit Brown on the CCL as well as Marina South, Mount Pleasant, and Tagore on the TEL. 42 stations are under construction; of these, Bahar Junction is the only station designated as an interchange, whilst three stations – Aviation Park, Pandan Reservoir, and Peng Kang Hill – are terminal stations. Three stations – Jurong Pier, Sungei Bedok, and West Coast – are both interchange and terminal stations. Riviera station on the CRL is planned to interchange with the existing Riviera LRT station. Seven stations are in planning; of these, two stations, Changi Terminal 5 and Sungei Kadut, are expected to be terminal and interchange stations. The former is also planned to be connected to Changi Airport Terminal 5.

History

Plans for a national rail transport system were conceptualised in a study by the Singapore government and United Nations Development Programme in 1971, which hypothesised that the country would need such a system by 1992. Various studies on the feasibility of a rapid transit system were conducted between 1972 and 1980, with some experts opposing the idea and arguing that Singapore's bus system should be further expanded. The government approved the MRT's construction in 1982, and the first phase of the system opened on 7 November 1987 with five stations from Yio Chu Kang to Toa Payoh. Between 1987 and 1988, 20 stations commenced operations. However, the MRT system was split into two lines on 28 October 1989: the North–South Line (NSL), which went from Yishun to Marina Bay, and the East–West Line (EWL), which went from Tanah Merah to Lakeside. Following the split, 13 stations commenced operations in 1989. Station architecture during that time was basic, with the focus being safety with simple aesthetics. However, some elevated stations had distinct roof designs, such as the Chinese-style roofs of Chinese Garden and Lakeside stations, the Minangkabau-style roof of Eunos, and the vaulted roofs of stations from Kallang to Pasir Ris. A new line, the Branch Line, opened on 10 March 1990, and consisted of four stations from Jurong East to Choa Chu Kang. With the opening of Boon Lay station on 6 July 1990, the initial MRT system was completed.

Six stations on the NSL's Woodlands Extension, from Sembawang to Yew Tee, opened on 10 February 1996. The Branch Line was merged with the NSL on the same date. Between 2001 and 2002, three stations on the EWL opened. On 20 June 2003, most of the North East Line (NEL), which consisted of 12 stations from HarbourFront to Punggol, opened; two stations, Buangkok and Woodleigh, later opened as infill stations on 15 January 2006 and 20 June 2011, respectively. The initial NEL stations were designed to reflect their location, such as the leaf-shaped metal grill patterns – akin to door patterns of Hindu prayer rooms – on the walls of Little India. Furthermore, most station entrances were made of glass to allow natural lighting. The NEL also saw the implementation of the Art in Transit programme, a public arts programme where local artists are commissioned to create artworks that would be integrated as part of the stations' design; the artworks focus on Singapore's history and community. On 28 February 2009, the EWL was extended to Joo Koon and Pioneer stations.

The opening of the Circle Line (CCL) from Marymount to Bartley on 28 May 2009 introduced three new stations; 20 new stations on the line were opened in various stages between 2010 and 2012. The LTA designed the entrances of those stations to be "high-tech" so that they would not go "out of style" in the future. Architecture on the CCL includes Bras Basah station, where its roof also serves as a reflective pool for the nearby Singapore Art Museum.

The opening of the Downtown Line (DTL) also introduced two new stations from Bugis to Chinatown on 22 December 2013, with nine stations from Bukit Panjang to Rochor and 13 stations from Fort Canning to Expo commencing operations on 27 December 2015 and 21 October 2017, respectively. The DTL saw the construction of the MRT's deepest station, Bencoolen, at ; construction challenges involve temporarily diverting the Singapore River. From 2014 to 2019, several new stations opened on existing lines, including the NSL extension to Marina South Pier, four stations from Gul Circle to Tuas Link on the EWL, and Canberra as an infill station on the NSL.

The opening of the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) on 31 January 2020 included two new stations from Woodlands North to Woodlands South. Subsequently, 19 new stations on the TEL commenced operations from 2021 to 2024. The NEL extended to Punggol Coast on 10 December 2024, and Hume station opened on the DTL as an infill station on 28 February 2025. Cantonment, Keppel, and Prince Edward Road stations on the CCL opened on 12 July 2026, completing the CCL's loop.

In the second half of 2026, the DTL and TEL are expected to be extended to interchange with each other at Sungei Bedok; Bedok South on the TEL and Xilin on the DTL are scheduled to open at the same time. Also on the TEL, Founders' Memorial station is planned to open at the end of 2028. There are two upcoming lines on the MRT: the Jurong Region Line (JRL) and Cross Island Line (CRL). 21 stations on the JRL are under construction and are scheduled to commence operations in three stages from 2028 to 2029, including 14 stations in 2028 and seven stations in 2029. As for the CRL, 26 stations are planned to commence operations in various stages in the 2030s, including 12 stations in 2030, six stations and a branch from Pasir Ris to Punggol consisting of four stations in 2032, and four stations in the late 2030s. Five stations under planning are expected to open around the mid-2030s, which are Brickland on the NSL in 2034, DE1 on the DTL and Sungei Kadut on the NSL and DTL in 2035, Changi Terminal 5 on the TEL and CRL, and JS2A on the JRL.

MRT stations

In operation