Free train rides from north-east stations to ease morning crowds

Scheme starts from Dec 27 and applies when tapping in at six NEL stations or the SPLRT

- Christine Tan

Passengers in Singapore's northeast will soon ride for free on their first rail ride - if they tap in at six stations on the North East Line (NEL) or the Sengkang-Punggol LRT (SPLRT) system during morning off-peak hours.

This is part of the Government’s latest push to reduce train congestion during the morning rush hour.

From Dec 27, the free rides will apply to passengers who enter the NEL stations of Punggol Coast, Punggol, Sengkang, Buangkok, Hougang or Kovan, or any SPLRT station, before 7.30am, or between 9am and 9.45am on weekdays, excluding public holidays.

It will also be easier to join the Travel Smart Journeys (TSJ) programme, an existing reward scheme encouraging northeast passengers to change their travel modes or times to avoid the morning peak.

The move to nudge passengers to avoid the rush hour with free train rides aims to ease crowding on the NEL, so commuters will see “fewer missed trains”, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Oct 18.

Announcing the moves at Punggol Coast Bus Interchange on the same day, Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said the free morning off-peak rail rides will operate as a pilot scheme for at least a year, and the results will be evaluated.

LTA said the results will inform any future adjustments, such as potential revisions to the cutoff times for the scheme’s eligibility, or extending the scheme to other rail lines.

Passengers do not need to register for the free rides, as long as they tap in and out using the same fare card or payment mode, said LTA.

The authority told The Sunday Times the Government will fully fund the scheme, and it will not contribute to future fare increases. The cost of the scheme will depend on the extent to which passengers adjust their travel patterns.