page_title: Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
section_title: Subsequent expansions
hierarchical_section_title: Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) / History / Subsequent expansions
caption_attribution_description: English: Canberra MRT station in Singapore.
context_page_description: The Mass Rapid Transit, abbreviated and referred to in local parlance as the MRT, is a heavy rail rapid transit system that constitutes the bulk of the railway network in Singapore, spanning—with the exception of the forested core and the island's rural northwest—the length and width of the city-state's main island. The first section of the MRT opened on 7 November 1987, and the network has since grown rapidly in accordance with Singapore's aim of developing a comprehensive rail network as the backbone of the country's public transportation system, with an average daily ridership of 3.384 million in 2019, approximately 83% of the bus network's 4.099 million in the same period.
  Singapore's MRT infrastructure is built, operated, and managed in accordance with a hybridised quasi-nationalised regulatory framework called the New Rail Financing Framework, in which the lines are constructed and the assets owned by the Land Transport Authority, a statutory board of the Government of Singapore.
context_section_description: The MRT has been continuously expanded ever since. On 10 February 1996, a S$1.2 billion expansion of the North South line into Woodlands was completed, merging the Branch line into the North South line and joining Yishun and Choa Chu Kang stations. The concept of having rail lines that bring people almost directly to their homes led to the introduction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines connecting with the MRT network. On 6 November 1999, the first LRT trains on the Bukit Panjang LRT went into operation. The Expo and Changi Airport stations were opened on 10 January 2001 and 8 February 2002 respectively. The very first infill station of the MRT network to be built on an existing line, Dover station opened on 18 October 2001. 
  The North East line, the first line operated by SBS Transit, opened on 20 June 2003, is one of the first fully automated heavy rail lines in the world.  On 15 January 2006, after intense two-and-a-half years lobbying by the public, Buangkok station was opened, followed by Woodleigh station much later on 20 June 2011. The Boon Lay Extension of the East West line, consisting of Pioneer and Joo Koon stations, opened on 28 February 2009. 
  The Circle line opened in four stages with Stage 3 on 28 May 2009, Stages 1 and 2 on 17 April 2010, Stages 4 and 5 on 8 October 2011 and the Marina Bay Extension on 14 January 2012. Stage 1 of Downtown line opened on 22 December 2013 with its official opening made on 21 December 2013 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Stage 2 opened on 27 December 2015, after being officially opened on 26 December by Prime Minister Lee. The Tuas West Extension of the East West line, consisting of Gul Circle, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West Road, and Tuas Link stations, opened on 18 June 2017. Stage 3, the final stage of the Downtown line, opened on 21 October 2017 with its official opening made on 20 October 2017 by Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan. The second infill station, Canberra station opened on 2 November 2019. Stage 1 of the Thomson–East Coast line opened on 31 January 2020.
caption: Canberra station, an infill station of the North South line
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