LTA planning 15 new bus services in towns like Punggol & Bidadari, govt to inject up to S$1 billion to improve MRT services

The government will invest up to S$1 billion over the next five years to strengthen rail capabilities and scale up technology adoption.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also plans to introduce 15 new bus services in 2025.

Transport minister Chee Hong Tat announced this during the Ministry of Transport Committee of Supply debate on Mar. 5.

Speaking on the additional funding, Chee said it will enhance monitoring and maintenance of rail assets, and also support skills upgrading for workers.

New Rail Financing Framework

The additional funding will build on the New Rail Financing Framework (NRFF), Chee said.

The framework involves LTA, which handles asset procurement and replacement, as well as operators, who handle asset maintenance.

“Under this framework, LTA holds our operators accountable for their maintenance of assets,” he said.

Incentives and performance standards are in place to ensure that operators deliver “good, reliable service”, Chee said.

Operators who do not perform could face financial penalties and miss out on incentives, Chee said, explaining that this approach has helped to “improve reliability and achieve good outcomes for commuters.”

Chee said that more of Singapore's rail assets will "approach the end of their service life", meaning that more investment into life cycle management is necessary.

The enhanced NRFF will allow the government to expand condition monitoring capabilities for more “proactive intervention and targeted maintenance”.

It will also facilitate carrying out targeted replacements of sub-systems and components and scaling up the adoption of new technologies.

Chee said operators will continue to be responsible for the maintenance of assets, as per their existing responsibilities under the NRFF, but explained that the additional investment from the government will allow LTA to "better optimise" life cycle management of rail assets.

He added:

"This will enable LTA and the operators to achieve high reliability standards while keeping a tight control on maintenance and asset replacement costs, which will benefit commuters and taxpayers."

Uplifting maintenance capabilities of rail sector

Beyond technology and hardware, the government will also invest in improving the maintenance capabilities of the entire rail sector, Chee shared.

This will enable tripartite partners – LTA, operators, and workers – to achieve higher levels of safety, reliability, and resilience.

Initiatives include strengthening training programmes, providing more opportunities and incentives for workers to upgrade their skills, and supporting rail operators to drive workforce and operations transformation.

“Over time, as workers upgrade their skills through upskilling and reskilling, they will be able to take on higher value jobs, improve their productivity and earn higher wages.”

15 new bus services in 2025

The government also plans to improve the public bus network, Chee said.

Chee highlighted the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme (BCEP), which was launched in July 2024 to “better serve new and existing estates across Singapore.”

So far, 10 new services and enhancements to 36 services have been introduced, to improve capacity and connectivity for residents in Yishun, Tengah, Hougang, and Fernvale.

In 2025, LTA plans to introduce another 15 bus services across towns including Punggol, Bidadari, Yew Tee and Tampines, Chee announced.

As more buses are deployed, they will also be given “priority on more roads to facilitate their movement and improve their reliability,” he shared.

LTA will also add about 20km of new bus lanes this year, with more to be added in the coming years.

Top photo from MOT website