More Tourists on MRT Trains

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the number of tourists who used our MRT during working days for the past three years; (b) whether they have contributed to the significant increase in total train ridership; and (c) what measures have been taken by LTA to ensure that our MRT system can cope with the projected increase in tourist arrivals in the next five years.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Both residents and tourists using our MRT system in Singapore can choose to purchase a standard ticket or a Singapore Tourist Pass to meet their travel needs. Based on anecdotal evidence from TransitLink, the majority of standard ticket and Singapore Tourist Pass users are tourists. Whilst we do not track the number of tourists who use our MRT system during weekdays, based on this anecdotal evidence and the latest standard ticket and Singapore Tourist Pass figures, we estimate that there are no more than about 50,000 daily rail journeys by tourists. This is about 2.5% of daily rail journeys. As the majority of tourists typically also travel outside the peak periods in Singapore, their contribution to peak period rail ridership is not likely to be significant.

Although tourists can also choose to purchase an adult ez-link card, not many tourists probably do so as the $5 card cost is not refundable.

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