MRT reliability falls to lowest level since 2020; LRT network improves

The MRT network's reliability over the 12 months ending June 2025 fell to its lowest level since 2020, based on the latest figures from the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

- Lee Nian Tjoe

On average, MRT trains clocked 1.6 million train-km without delays that lasted more than five minutes in the 12 months ending June, down from 1.98 million train-km in 2024.

In 2020, trains travelled an average of 1.45 million train-km without delays.

The LTA publishes reliability figures quarterly, using a 12-month moving average of mean kilometres between failure (MKBF) – an engineering standard that captures the distance a train travels before it encounters a delay of more than five minutes.

Singapore has set an MKBF target of 1 million train-km for the MRT network – a mark that all MRT lines exceeded despite the overall dip in reliability.

The North East Line (NEL) and Circle Line (CCL) improved in reliability, but the other three MRT lines fared more poorly than in 2024.

Trains on the SMRT-run CCL went an average of 1.07 million train-km between delays, up from the 919,000 train-km in 2024, but still some distance away from the 1.84 million train-km peak achieved in 2022.

The CCL remains the least reliable among the five MRT lines listed in the LTA report, which excluded the SMRT-run Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). LTA previously said that the TEL's current operating figures would not accurately reflect its reliability when compared with existing lines.