Singapore City Flow: MRT and the Underground Walk

The MRT has six lines. For a first visit, three matter. The Red Line, or North South Line, connects Orchard, Dhoby Ghaut, City Hall, and Marina Bay. The Green Line, or East West Line, runs from Changi Airport to the western suburbs through Bugis, City Hall, and Raffles Place. The Blue Line, or Downtown Line, connects Chinatown, Bugis, Little India, and Bayfront.

The interchange at City Hall connects Red and Green. The interchange at Bugis connects Green and Blue. Between these two stations, essentially every central Singapore destination is reachable in one or two trains. Trains run every three to five minutes during the day.

Since 2023, tapping through the MRT gate with a Visa or Mastercard contactless card, or Apple Pay or Google Pay, works exactly like an EZ-Link card. The fare is deducted per journey and is the same. You do not need to buy an EZ-Link card for a short trip. Just tap in and out with a card you already have.

Longer visits, or visits that use significant bus travel, may benefit from an EZ-Link card because it is easier to top up at machines and the tap is more reliable at some bus readers. Cards cost 12 Singapore dollars including 5 dollars of credit and are sold at every MRT station.

Singapore has an unusual and very useful underground pedestrian network in the central business district. From City Hall to Marina Bay, you can walk almost entirely underground, air conditioned, via a chain of mall basements, MRT stations, and pedestrian tunnels. In the middle of a Singapore afternoon, this saves ten minutes and an entire change of shirt.

The route from City Hall MRT through Raffles City, then across the underpass to Marina Square, then through the shopping galleries to Marina Bay Sands, is entirely indoors and covers about one kilometer.

The MRT covers most tourist destinations but not all. The Botanic Gardens, the Southern Ridges walking trail, Sentosa's mid island, and some parts of the East Coast Park are better reached by bus. The buses are numerous, air conditioned, and use the same contactless payment. Google Maps and Citymapper both give reliable bus directions in Singapore.

The 190 from Orchard to Little India is a good short cut. The 700 from Ang Mo Kio to central Singapore is one of the few useful express routes. Bus stops have real time boards showing the next three arrivals.

Grab, the local rideshare app, is the default option for trips that need a car. Uber pulled out of Singapore in 2018. Comfort DelGro and CDG Zig are the traditional metered taxis and they are honest. A standard trip across central Singapore is 8 to 15 Singapore dollars. Airport to central is 25 to 35.

Do not walk long distances outdoors on the equator between 11:00 and 15:00. This is not laziness. Heat exhaustion in Singapore is real for visitors from cooler climates. Take the bus or a Grab.

The MRT Green Line connects Changi directly to central Singapore. From Terminal 2 or 3, the train station is inside the terminal. From Terminal 1, take the free Skytrain shuttle to Terminal 2. From Terminal 4, take the free shuttle bus to Terminal 2. Total journey to City Hall: 35 minutes, 2.50 Singapore dollars.

This is one of the best airport transfers in the world and there is almost no reason to take a taxi from Changi unless you are landing after 23:00 or carrying an extreme amount of luggage.

Sentosa, the resort island south of central Singapore, is reached by the Sentosa Express monorail from VivoCity mall, the cable car from Mount Faber, or on foot via the Sentosa Boardwalk. The boardwalk is free and takes fifteen minutes. The monorail is 4 Singapore dollars round trip. The cable car is 35 to 40 dollars round trip and gives the view.

For a first Sentosa visit, walk in via the boardwalk and ride the cable car out. This combines the two experiences.