MRT Fare Calculator + Bus Fare Singapore 2026: Distance Bands & Concessions

Singapore MRT & Bus Fares 2026 — Quick Answer

Following the 27 December 2025 PTC fare adjustment, adult card fares on Singapore MRT, LRT and bus run from $1.28 (≤3.2 km) to about $2.57 (over 40.2 km). Cash adds a $0.22 surcharge per leg. Senior, student and child concession cardholders pay $0.42 to $1.07. EZ-Link, SimplyGo EZ-Link and contactless bank cards charge the same fare, and transfers within 45 minutes on the same card are billed as one distance-based journey. Use the MRT, LRT & Bus Fare Calculator for an estimate by distance and passenger type — or the SimplyGo app for the exact fare on a specific route.

This is how the Singapore fare system actually works in 2026 — how distance is converted to dollars, why three different cards charge the same fare, what concessions exist, and when a monthly pass starts paying for itself.

How distance-based fares work

Singapore's public transport fares are set by the Public Transport Council (PTC), a statutory body that reviews fares annually against a transparent formula combining inflation, wage growth, energy costs and an "affordability" factor. The PTC publishes a single fare table that applies across MRT, LRT and most bus services.

The structure is simple in shape but precise in execution:

• A base fare for journeys up to 3.2 km. After the 27 Dec 2025 adjustment this is $1.28 on an adult card.
• Distance steps above 3.2 km. Fares increase in small increments per 0.8 km of additional distance until they reach a cap.
• A fare cap at the upper end — about $2.57 for an adult card on a journey over 40.2 km. The cap means a cross-island trip never costs more than a moderately long one, which keeps the system progressive for commuters on the urban fringes.

A few details that catch people out:

• Bus and train fares are now aligned at most distance bands. Older articles still describe buses as $0.10 more expensive — that differential has narrowed or disappeared in recent fare reviews.
• Cash is always more expensive. Single-trip tickets add a $0.22 surcharge to every leg, and they don't qualify for transfer consolidation (see below).
• Distance is measured along the operator's network route, not as the crow flies. A trip that looks short on a map but requires a loop on the East-West Line may cross more distance bands than you expect.

EZ-Link vs SimplyGo vs contactless bank card

The three card options on Singapore's gates and bus readers in 2026:

1. CEPAS EZ-Link card — the traditional stored-value card. Shows your fare and remaining balance at the gantry.
2. SimplyGo EZ-Link card — same card form factor but on the account-based SimplyGo backend. Does not display the fare deducted or remaining balance at the gantry. You check those in the SimplyGo app.
3. Contactless bank card — any Visa, Mastercard, American Express or NETS card with the contactless symbol. Linked to your bank account or credit line. Also does not display the fare at the gantry; settlement happens in the background.

Crucially, all three charge identical fares. There is no fare premium for using a bank card and no penalty for staying on a CEPAS EZ-Link card. The choice is operational, not financial:

• If you want to see the deducted fare at the gantry, stay on a CEPAS EZ-Link card.
• If you want one less card in your wallet, switch to a contactless bank card you already carry.
• If you want the convenience of automatic top-up without merging your transit spend with your credit-card statement, a SimplyGo EZ-Link card is the middle path.

For tourists and short-term visitors, the Singapore Tourist Pass is a separate product with its own pricing — not covered here.

Transfer rules: 5 transfers, 45 minutes, one fare

This is the single biggest reason to tap a card rather than pay cash.

If you tap the same card for each leg of your journey, the system treats your trips as a single distance-based journey. Total distance across MRT, LRT and bus is summed and charged at one consolidated fare.

The exact rules:

• Up to 5 transfers allowed in a single journey
• 45 minutes to start the next leg for bus-to-bus or bus-to-rail transfers
• 15 minutes for train-to-train transfers (much tighter — designed for line interchanges within stations)
• You must not re-board the same bus service number consecutively — that counts as a new journey
• You must not exit and re-enter the same rail station — again, new journey + new boarding charge

Concretely: an MRT trip from Bishan to Dhoby Ghaut (~6 km) followed by a bus to Tanglin (~2 km) within 45 minutes is billed as one 8 km journey, not two separate ones. You pay the 8 km adult card fare once. The saving is typically 30–70¢ per transferred journey, and for a commuter who transfers daily, it is the difference between a $73 month and an $85 month.

Pay cash for either leg and the consolidation breaks — each leg is billed independently.

Basic vs Feeder vs Express bus fares

Not all buses charge the same way. There are three types and the differences matter for cost planning:

Feeder buses (numbers typically starting with 7xx, 9xx) are the short-loop routes that link MRT stations to nearby neighbourhoods — they get the flat $1.28 cap because their journeys are by design short. Express buses (numbers starting with 5xx or labelled E) skip multiple stops and run longer distances, hence the $1.00 premium at every band.

Critically: Child Concession Card free-fare does NOT apply on Express, Premium or City Direct services — adult cash is charged even if the child holds a valid Child Concession Card. Plan accordingly if you're routing a young child through one of these services.

Children: when MRT and bus fares are free

The free-child rules are different from many parents assume:

• Children under 0.9 m travel free on basic bus and rail when accompanied by a fare-paying commuter — no concession card needed.
• Children below 7 years old and above 0.9 m travel free with a valid Child Concession Card on basic services. Without the card, they are charged student or adult cash fares depending on height.
• Children aged 7 and above use the Student Concession Card ($0.52–$0.78 by distance) — not the Child Concession Card. This is the most-missed detail: the Child Concession Card is for under-7 only, not the 7–12 age band many sites incorrectly cite.
• No free child fares on Express, Premium or City Direct bus services — adult cash applies even with a Child Concession Card.

If you have a primary-school-aged child and are still using a Child Concession Card, switch to the Student Concession Card — same free travel on basic services for under-7s isn't available past 7, and the student card is the correct successor.

Morning Pre-Peak Discount and the 2025 Free Travel Pilot

Two distinct schemes that can reduce or eliminate your morning rail fare:

Morning Pre-Peak Fares (permanent)

Tap in at any rail station before 7.45am on weekdays (excluding public holidays) and you get up to $0.50 off the rail leg of your journey. The discount is the lower of $0.50 or your underlying rail fare — short trips that would have cost under $0.50 effectively ride free, longer trips get $0.50 off.

For an adult on a 10 km journey ($1.50 rail fare), tapping in at 7.40am saves $0.50 — bringing the fare down to $1.00. Over 22 working days that is roughly $11/month in savings, before any transfers.

The discount appears as a separate column in the official PTC adult MRT/LRT fare table — it is a fully built-in part of the fare system, not a temporary promotion.

Free Travel Pilot — 6 NEL stations + SK-PG LRT (from 27 Dec 2025)

A government-funded pilot launched alongside the December 2025 fare review. Tap in at one of the following stations before 7.30am, OR between 9.00am and 9.45am, on weekdays (excluding public holidays) and the first rail trip of your journey is completely free:

• Punggol Coast (NEL)
• Punggol (NEL)
• Sengkang (NEL)
• Buangkok (NEL)
• Hougang (NEL)
• Kovan (NEL)
• Any Sengkang-Punggol LRT station

This is targeted at easing morning-peak crowding on the North East Line and shifting some travel into the 9.00–9.45am shoulder. Initial pilot window is at least one year — no end date has been announced as of May 2026. If you live in the Punggol/Sengkang/Hougang catchment and can flex your morning start, this is the single largest saving available on the network.

Concession fares: who gets what

Singapore offers concession cards for four groups:

Senior citizens (60+)

Apply for the Senior Citizen Concession Card from age 60. From 65, you can use the PAssion Silver Card variant which doubles as community-centre membership. Concession fares run from about $0.69 for short journeys to $1.07 for long-distance journeys across the full distance range.

Persons with disabilities

The PWD Concession Card is priced at the same concession band as senior fares. Eligibility is based on certification by SG Enable. The card supports MRT, LRT, basic bus and BusPlus services.

Full-time students

The Student Concession Card is available for primary, secondary, ITE, polytechnic and full-time NSF cardholders. Fares run from about $0.52 for short journeys to $0.78 for long-distance journeys. Tertiary undergraduates qualify under a separate Tertiary Student Concession Scheme with slightly different fare bands.

Children

Children with a valid Child Concession Card (under 7 years old AND above 0.9 m height) travel FREE on basic bus and MRT/LRT services. Children under 0.9 m also travel free with a fare-paying commuter and don't need a card. Children aged 7 and above use the Student Concession Card ($0.52–$0.78 by distance), not the Child Concession Card — this is the most-misquoted detail in older guides. Free child fares do not apply on Express, Premium or City Direct bus services (adult cash applies even with a valid Child Concession Card).

Workfare Transport Concession

Lower-income workers on the Workfare scheme qualify for a separate Workfare Transport Concession Scheme (WTCS) priced between adult and senior bands. The scheme is administered through CPF Workfare allocations.

Monthly travel passes: full price list and break-even

Singapore offers separate monthly unlimited-travel passes per cardholder type. The 2025 PTC fare review reduced several pass prices (up to 5%); these are the current 2026 prices:

Break-even maths (adult): A daily commuter making two trips at an average adult card fare of $1.55 (mid-distance) spends roughly $68 per month — below the $122 pass price, so pay-per-trip wins. Push the average fare to $2.30 (long-distance, near the cap) and 22-working-day commuting hits $101/month with weekends adding $20–30, putting the pass within break-even range. Add weekend leisure travel and the pass wins decisively.

Break-even maths (senior at $55): Pays off at roughly 30–40 paid trips/month. Most senior commuters who travel regularly find the pass is the better deal.

NSF hybrid at $81 vs adult $122 saves NSFs $41/month while in service — and is one of the few concrete recurring concessions on the NSF income side.

All passes are billed monthly with no commitment — buy through the SimplyGo app or at TransitLink kiosks. There is no "annual saver".

The 2025 PTC Fare Review in numbers

The PTC's annual review concluded with a 5.0% overall fare increase effective 27 December 2025 — well below the maximum allowable 14.4% from the fare-adjustment formula plus deferred quantum from previous years.

What this meant per journey:

• Adult by card: +$0.09 per journey for trips up to 17.2 km; +$0.10 for journeys beyond 17.2 km
• Concessions: no increase on short trips (≤3.2 km); +$0.03 to +$0.04 on journeys beyond 3.2 km
• Monthly passes: several reduced (Senior to $55, Workfare hybrid from $96 to $92, etc.)

The PTC fare-adjustment formula combines core inflation, wage growth, energy prices and a "Network Capacity Factor" that adjusts for system expansion costs. In years where the formula's headline outcome is large (as in 2025's 14.4% maximum), the PTC routinely defers part of the increase to soften commuter impact — this is why the actual 5.0% applied was much smaller than the formula allowed.

The next fare review is expected in late 2026 for an end-of-year effective date. No new quantum or implementation date has been announced beyond December 2025 as of May 2026.

Cash vs card — the honest answer

There is no scenario in 2026 where cash is cheaper than tapping a card. The $0.22 surcharge applies on every leg, and cash cannot benefit from the 45-minute transfer rule. A commuter who transfers daily and pays cash spends $20–$30/month more than the same commuter tapping a card.

The only legitimate reason to pay cash is if you have no card and no contactless bank card on you — and that situation is increasingly rare. Even SingPass-linked bank-account holders carry at least one contactless card.

Use the calculator to estimate your fare

This guide explains the framework. For an estimate of your specific fare:

• Use our MRT, LRT & Bus Fare Calculator — enter distance, passenger type and mode, get card and cash fares plus a 22-working-day monthly estimate.
• For the exact fare on a specific route — use the SimplyGo app or the LTA fare calculator. They model the precise operator route between stations, which our distance-based estimate cannot.

Related calculators

• MRT, LRT & Bus Fare Calculator — estimate your fare by distance and passenger type
• Commute Cost Comparison Calculator — compare monthly cost of driving vs MRT vs bus
• ERP Calculator — daily and monthly ERP 2.0 charges for drivers
• Salary Calculator — take-home pay after CPF, useful for comparing commute cost vs net income