‘Increase despite frequency of breakdowns.’ S’poreans dismayed at upcoming 9-10 cent hike for MRT & bus fares

SINGAPORE: The Public Transport Council (PTC) announced on Tuesday (Oct 14) that the card fare for adults on public buses and trains will go up by 9 to 10 cents from Dec 27.

For cash fares, the increase will be 20 cents for adults and other commuters, 10 cents for seniors and people with disabilities, and five cents for students.

PTC acknowledged that living costs remain a concern for Singaporeans. However, it noted that the 5 per cent overall fare increase is under the maximum allowable fare adjustment quantum of 14.4 per cent. It is also lower than the 6 per cent fare increase in 2024.

Janet Ang, who chairs the PTC, pointed out that while considering the public transport fare hike for more than seven million commuters every day, other factors were taken into account, such as the salaries of public transport workers, as well as higher costs of operations and maintenance.

The government is also providing an additional subsidy of over S$200 million next year, on top of yearly operating subsidies of $2 billion for public transport and additional government funding of close to S$1 billion from 2024 to 2032 for the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme.

“This additional government subsidy will help to moderate the fare increase, while still accounting for the higher costs of public transport provision,” PTC said.

Additionally, card fares for short journeys of up to 3.2 km remain unchanged. PTC said that over a third of journeys paying concession fares are 3.2 km or less, and will benefit from fares kept at the same level.”

The full announcement from PTC, including details concerning support for lower-income households and the reduced cost of monthly passes, may be found here.

In light of recent train disruptions, Singaporeans were none too happy with the announcement and expressed their dismay online.

“Increase despite frequency of breakdowns,” a Facebook user noted.

“What’s good about this? Nobody can say anything,” wrote another.

Others pointed out that the public fares have gone up two years in a row.

A Reddit user wrote, “Man, I wish I could get 5 per cent salary increases yearly. Instead, we get fare hikes.”

Writing in the same vein, another noted, “Planned (emphasis on planned and not actual) salary increment for 2026 is only 4.3 per cent according to surveys. Salary increment can’t even keep up with the train fare increment. Haiz, I’m not working hard enough and am not hungry enough.”

“If they can break down 0 per cent of the time, they should take the maximum increase; if they break down even once, their increase should be strictly pegged to inflation,” a commenter opined.

Other netizens implied they would be all right with price hikes “as long as we get more reliable transport for the long run”. /TISG

Read also: S’porean asks: When was the last time a Transport Minister took the MRT during peak hours?