Singapore will have a total of eight MRT lines by 2030, which naturally calls for a revamp of the MRT map.

Previously, a 31-year-old architect, Cliff Tan, impressed netizens with his MRT map design.

The viral design might even land him a job at the Land & Transport Authority (LTA) if he so wishes.

Tan, however, wasn't the only one who had been working on a new MRT system map.

Enter 17-year-old Faiz Basha, who has an improved MRT map design too.

Started on new map design in 2018

Faiz shared that he has been interested in the MRT and has been a frequent contributor on the Singapore MRT Wikipedia page.

The idea of redesigning the MRT system map dawned on him in 2018 when he realised how quickly the network is expanding with new lines such as Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), Jurong Region Line (JRL) and Cross Island Line (CRL).

However, Faiz took a break from his design until LTA published a map with the upcoming lines.

He continued his project on remapping the MRT system in late 2018.

"Since young I've always been rather interested in the MRT, it astonished me how much it has grown since I was born, it's rare to grow up alongside huge infrastructure project developing with you, speaking as someone who has stayed overseas before, though this may be common in a city like Singapore.

Around early 2018 I wanted to make an MRT map that included all the future lines including the TEL JRL & CRL because I was excited how Singapore's metro was soon to be the 6th largest as well I was a frequent editor on the Singapore MRT Wikipedia page.

I didn't like how the LTA's map looked at the time, though after the introduction of the current LTA map I thought it was a sufficient MRT Map and so dropped the project.

However after LTA implemented the CRL and JRL into the current map, it started to look un-neat again and so I picked back up the project."

Faiz's dad, Munwar Basha, can attest to his passion for trains and planes.

"We spent the entire day riding the full system when NE line just opened, including the 3 LRT lines."

Faiz shared that he started off with rough sketches before proceeding to use Google Drawing which he uses for school assignments.

"I usually would draw these random arrays of lines in my notebooks in class, my teachers would be puzzled.

Using the skills I had gathered from making diagram from lab reports in school I became very familiar with "google drawing" and so used that software, though I doubt this software was ever intended for making metro maps, I used it anyway ?. About last week I finally finished the map in 3 versions; 2019, 2030 and planned."

Proposed changes

Faiz identified the shortcomings of the current LTA map in order to produce what he deemed as an improved version.

Some of the improvements that he made include lowering the number of turns on the map to achieve a minimalistic look and changing the font and font size of the words on the map to improve readability.

Faiz also compared his map with the current LTA map as well as Tan's design.

In comparison, he shared that his map, with the fewest number of turns, might be the neatest version by far.

He also documented his work in this Google doc.

Impressive.

Proposed maps

Faiz completed his map design in three version - 2019 version, 2019 with planned lines version and 2030 version in less than six months.

In fact, Faiz could have been even faster in producing this map as he had to juggle school work at the same time.

"Due to a lot of studies and extra-curricular I could only work on it in brief stages during holidays, however I feel this work pattern is superior to completing it all in one stint, I had plentiful time to contemplate every design decision and design compromise made, I can attest that it consumed a lot of my thinking. Probably the most tedious part was labelling all 184 stations and station codes."

Here are the redesigned maps:

Awesome.

Top photo collage from photo and image courtesy of Faiz Basha.

 

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