How SMRT Train Fares Are Calculated

On 25 May 2008, I sent an email to SMRT for justifications on how train fares are calculated. After a long one week on 31 May 2008, A senior officer for Customer Relations from SMRT finally replied and promised to revert for a detailed answer to my question. I waited a further 9 more days but none replied until I sent the below email.

"I think it is getting far too long for a reply. This is certainly not up to standard and is not acceptable.

I DEMAND SMRT to contact me directly via handphone at XXXXXXXX"

The very next morning, the same senior officer called and promised to reply me with a detailed answer to my question. She said my case was never forgotten but I doubt so. Without my email, I bet my case would have been forgotten.

The below was sent by the SMRT's senior officer for Customer Relations on how train fares are being calculated:

We wish to clarify that MRT adult ez-link fares are based on distance travelled and LRT adult ez-link fares are based on the number of stations travelled.

The adult ez-link fare payable for traveling from A to B within the MRT network is pegged to the distance of the route that gives the shortest journey time (inclusive of transfer times at interchange stations and factors for inconvenience of transfer) between A and B.

The adult ez-link fare payable for a commuter traveling from C to D within the LRT network is pegged to the fewest number of stations for all possible routes between C and D.

The adult ez-link fare payable for a commuter transferring from MRT to LRT and vice versa is a simple aggregate of the MRT adult ez-link fare and the LRT adult ez-link fare, less any transfer rebate (subject to certain conditions which is detailed in http://www.transitlink.com.sg/). This concept is similar to commuters transferring from MRT to bus and vice versa.

As for the breakdown of the MRT and LRT adult ez-link fare structures, please refer to http://www.ptc.gov.sg/statistics_max.asp or http://www.transitlink.com.sg/

Based on the MRT adult ez-link fare structure, the fare charge for Scenario 1 as described is as follows:
In your case, if you are traveling from Ang Mo Kio to Buona Vista, he can shorten traveling time by boarding the southbound train and transferring via Raffles Place instead of boarding the northbound train and transferring via Jurong East. For the estimated journey time, please refer to http://www.transitlink.com.sg/images/eguide/MRT_Journey_Time.jpg or the published TransitLink guide.

For Scenario 2 as described, Journey 1 is an intra-LRT trip ie it is within the LRT network whereas Journeys 2 and 3 are transfer trips from MRT to LRT. As mentioned above, the adult ez-link fare payable for a commuter transferring from MRT to LRT and vice versa is a simple aggregate of the MRT adult ez-link fare and the LRT adult ez-link fare, less any transfer rebate. Based on the MRT and LRT adult ez-link fare structures, Scenario 2 is as follows:

We hope the above information is helpful and thank you for writing to us.

SMRT Train Fare Structure - Leaves Me Puzzled
http://hongjun.blogspot.com/2008/05/smrt-train-fair-structure-leaves-me.html

SMRT Finally Replied After 6 Days
http://hongjun.blogspot.com/2008/06/smrt-finally-replied-after-6-days.html