How many lines are on the Singapore MRT map?

The Singapore MRT map shows six MRT lines — North-South (red), East-West (green), North-East (purple), Circle (orange), Downtown (blue), and Thomson-East Coast (brown) — plus three LRT systems in Bukit Panjang, Sengkang, and Punggol that feed the MRT network.

What do the station codes on the MRT map mean?

Each station has a code made of a two-letter line prefix and a number, such as NS24 for Dhoby Ghaut on the North-South Line. The letters tell you the line and the number tells you the station's position along it, so codes count up in running order. Interchanges carry one code per line that meets there.

What do the colours on the Singapore MRT map mean?

Each MRT line has its own colour: North-South is red, East-West is green, North-East is purple, Circle is orange, Downtown is blue, and Thomson-East Coast is brown. Following one colour from end to end traces a single line, and a station where two colours meet is an interchange.

How do I plan an MRT route using the map?

Find your start and end stations, note their line colours, and look for an interchange where your lines meet. If they share a colour you ride straight through; if not, travel to a shared interchange, change lines, and continue. A route planner like MrtGo does this for you and adds a get-off alert.

Singapore MRT map: how to read it and plan a trip

The Singapore MRT map is a colour-coded diagram of the city's rail network: six MRT lines, each with its own colour and a two-letter code, plus three LRT loops that branch off into the suburbs. To read it, follow a colour from one end to the other to trace a line, and read the letter-number code on each station to know exactly where you are. Once you can read the colours and the codes together, planning any trip across the island is a matter of finding where your two lines meet.

How do I read the Singapore MRT map?

Read it in two layers. The colours show you the lines — each MRT line is a single continuous colour from terminus to terminus, so tracing one colour with your eye shows you everywhere that line goes. The codes pin down individual stations: every station has a two-letter line prefix and a number, such as NS24 (Dhoby Ghaut on the North-South Line). The letters tell you the line, the number tells you the position along it, so the codes count up as the line runs. A station where two or more colours meet — and which therefore carries more than one code — is an interchange where you can change lines.

Colours = lines
Letter-number codes = individual stations
Two colours meeting = an interchange

What are the lines on the Singapore MRT map?

There are six MRT lines on the current map, each with a colour and a two-letter code:

North-South Line — red, code NS. Jurong East in the west, up through Woodlands, then south through Orchard and the city to Marina South Pier.
East-West Line — green, code EW. Pasir Ris in the east to Tuas Link in the west, with a branch from Tanah Merah to Changi Airport.
North-East Line — purple, code NE. HarbourFront in the south to Punggol in the north-east, through Chinatown and Little India.
Circle Line — orange, code CC. An orbital loop around the city centre, with a branch to Marina Bay.
Downtown Line — blue, code DT. Bukit Panjang in the north-west, through the city, out to Tampines and Expo in the east.
Thomson-East Coast Line — brown, code TE. Woodlands in the north, down through the city centre, and out toward the east coast.

You can read each line in detail on our MRT lines overview, which lists the stations and interchanges for every colour.

What do the LRT lines on the map mean?

Three Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems appear as smaller loops branching off the MRT map: Bukit Panjang (BP) off the Downtown Line, and Sengkang (SE/SW) and Punggol (PE/PW) off the North-East Line. They are local feeder services that connect housing estates to the nearest MRT interchange, so on the map they read as short loops hanging off a main line rather than cross-island routes. If you live in one of those towns you will use the LRT to reach the MRT; most other trips never touch it. Our MRT and LRT lines guide covers how the two systems work together.

How do I plan a route using the MRT map?

Work it in three steps:

Find both stations and note the colour of each. If they sit on the same colour, you ride straight through with no change.
If the colours differ, look for an interchange — a station carrying both your codes, or a point where your two colours cross. That is where you change lines.
Check the direction by reading the terminus name at the end of your line; trains are signed by their final station, not by "north" or "east".

For a worked example of weighing one route against another, see our guide on choosing the best MRT route.

Why do station codes matter more than names?

Names can be long, similar, or unfamiliar to a visitor, but the code is unambiguous: NS1 and EW24 are the same physical station (Jurong East) seen from two lines, and the shared codes are exactly how you spot an interchange at a glance. Codes also make directions easy to give and follow — "ride to CC15 and change" is clearer than a station name you might misread on a crowded platform. Reading the code first and the name second is the habit that makes the map fast.

Where MrtGo fits

A paper or wall map is a reference; MrtGo turns it into a plan. Enter where you are and where you are going, and it reads the colours and codes for you — picking the interchange, the direction, and the platform — then adds a get-off alert so you can put the phone away and look up at the right stop. The map shows you the network; MrtGo shows you your trip through it.