Singapore's rail network is made of six MRT lines and three LRT loops. The MRT lines are the cross-island backbone — North-South (red), East-West (green), North-East (purple), Circle (orange), Downtown (blue), and Thomson-East Coast (brown) — while the LRT systems in Bukit Panjang, Sengkang, and Punggol are local feeders that carry residents the last stretch to the nearest MRT interchange. Knowing which line does what is the fastest way to read the network and plan a trip.
What are the six MRT lines in Singapore?
Each MRT line has a colour, a two-letter code, and a distinct job in the network:
- North-South Line (red, NS) — the original line, from Jurong East through Woodlands and down through Orchard to Marina South Pier. It carries some of the heaviest commuter traffic into the city.
- East-West Line (green, EW) — the main cross-island spine, from Pasir Ris to Tuas Link, with the branch to Changi Airport off Tanah Merah.
- North-East Line (purple, NE) — a driverless underground line from HarbourFront to Punggol, serving Chinatown, Little India, and the north-eastern towns.
- Circle Line (orange, CC) — an orbital loop that lets you travel between the radial lines without riding into the city core.
- Downtown Line (blue, DT) — a long line from Bukit Panjang through the city out to the east, threading new parts of downtown.
- Thomson-East Coast Line (brown, TE) — the newest line, north to south through the centre and out east, with valuable new interchanges.
Each line has its own detailed page under our MRT lines overview.
- Six MRT lines, each one colour
- Three LRT feeder loops
- One distance-based fare across both
What is the difference between MRT and LRT?
MRT is the heavy-rail backbone; LRT is the local connector. MRT lines run long distances across the island with frequent, high-capacity trains. LRT lines are smaller automated loops — Bukit Panjang (BP) off the Downtown Line, Sengkang (SE/SW) and Punggol (PE/PW) off the North-East Line — that distribute people from an MRT interchange into the surrounding housing estates and back. For fares it makes no difference: you tap once, the system charges by total distance, and a hop from LRT to MRT counts as one continuous journey, not two fares. See our guide to MRT and bus fares for the full breakdown.
How do the LRT lines connect to the MRT?
Each LRT loop hangs off a single MRT station and runs as a short circuit through its town:
- Bukit Panjang LRT connects to the Downtown Line at Bukit Panjang and loops through the Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang estates.
- Sengkang LRT connects to the North-East Line at Sengkang and runs east and west loops through the town.
- Punggol LRT connects to the North-East Line at Punggol and runs east and west loops through the newer Punggol estates.
If you live in one of these towns, the LRT is your first and last leg; for most other trips you will never need it. On the map the loops read as small circles branching off a main line — see how they fit the whole picture in our Singapore MRT map guide.
Which MRT line should I take?
Pick the line by where it runs, not by its number. If your start and destination share a colour, ride straight through. If not, find the interchange where your two lines meet and change there — the Circle Line in particular often saves a trip through the crowded city centre by linking the radial lines at their edges. For trips where more than one route works, our guide on choosing the best MRT route explains how to weigh time against transfers.
Which line goes to the airport?
The East-West Line (green) reaches Changi Airport via a short branch. Ride it eastbound, change at Tanah Merah, and take the shuttle the last two stops to the terminals — one transfer for most riders. Our full walkthrough is in how to get to Changi Airport by MRT.
Where MrtGo fits
You do not have to memorise which line does what. Tell MrtGo your start and destination and it picks the lines, the interchange, and the direction for you — MRT and LRT treated as one network — then reminds you when to get off. The lines are the map's vocabulary; MrtGo speaks it for you so you can just travel.