SMRT Corporation facts for kids
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| Industry | Public transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 6 August 1987 |
| Headquarters | 2 Tanjong Katong Road, #08-01, Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ 3), Singapore 437161 |
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Key people
|
Seah Moon Ming (Chairman) Ngien Hoon Ping (from 1 August 2022) (Group CEO) |
| Services | Bus & rail services |
| Revenue |  $1.297 billion (2016) |
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Operating income
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$139 million (2016) |
| $109 million (2016) |
|
| Owner | Temasek Holdings |
|
Number of employees
|
9,500 (March 2016) |
| Subsidiaries | SMRT Buses SMRT Trains Strides |
SMRT Corporation is a big company in Singapore that helps people get around. It runs both bus and train (MRT) services. SMRT started on August 6, 1987. It is owned by Temasek Holdings, which is an investment company of the Government of Singapore. SMRT is one of the two main companies that run Singapore's train services, the other being SBS Transit.
Besides running public transport, SMRT also rents out advertising spaces and shops inside its transport network. It also offers services like maintenance, project management, and engineering advice in Singapore and other countries. SMRT also has another company called Strides that offers other transport services.
Contents
History of SMRT
Planning Singapore's MRT
Back in 1967, city planners thought Singapore would need a train system by 1992. At first, some important government leaders were against it. They worried about the high cost and if there would be enough jobs for people building it. One leader, Goh Keng Swee, even suggested a system with only buses. He said it would be much cheaper.
People in Singapore had different ideas. Some worried about the cost, while others wanted better ways to travel. After a big discussion, the Minister for Communications, Ong Teng Cheong, decided that buses alone would not be enough. He explained that Singapore is a small country with limited space for roads. Mr. Ong was an architect and town planner. He worked very hard to make sure the MRT system was built.
Singapore's MRT system is built and managed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA). The LTA is a government agency that owns the train lines and equipment.
Starting the MRT Company
The Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC) was created on October 14, 1983. It took over from an earlier group that was planning the MRT.
On November 7, 1987, the MRTC started running the first part of Singapore's MRT system. This first section had five stations, from Yio Chu Kang to Toa Payoh.
Later, on September 1, 1995, the MRTC joined with other government departments to form the Land Transport Authority (LTA). The part of the company that ran the MRT trains became a new private company called SMRT Limited. It was still owned by the government's investment company, Temasek Holdings.
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SMRT Becomes a Public Company
In 1998, SMRT Limited took over ownership of the train equipment and lines. This meant SMRT was responsible for keeping the MRT system working well. On July 26, 2000, SMRT Limited became a public company called SMRT Corporation. Its shares were sold on the Singapore Exchange. This meant that regular people could buy parts of the company. Temasek Holdings sold about one-third of its shares at this time.
In 2001, SMRT bought another bus company called Trans-Island Bus Services (TIBS). TIBS then became a part of SMRT. In May 2004, TIBS changed its name to SMRT Buses.
SMRT Returns to Government Ownership
In September 2016, Temasek Holdings bought all the remaining shares of SMRT that it didn't already own. This meant SMRT was no longer a public company listed on the Singapore Exchange. It became fully owned by the government again.
All of SMRT's train and bus equipment was sold to the government's Land Transport Authority. This change allowed SMRT to focus more on running the public transport system reliably. It also allowed SMRT to explore business opportunities in other countries.
A court in Singapore approved this change. The last day SMRT shares were traded was October 18, 2016. From October 1, 2016, the Land Transport Authority took over owning all the train equipment from SMRT.
After Becoming Government-Owned Again
In 2023, SMRT Corporation combined its taxi services, which were under Strides Taxi, with another company called Premier Taxis. They formed a new company called Strides Premier.
What SMRT Does Today
SMRT's main job is to provide public transport in Singapore. As of 2015, here's what they operate:
- SMRT Buses: They have a large fleet of buses, about 1,200 of them. These buses serve most of the housing areas in the northern and north-western parts of Singapore.
- SMRT Trains: They run trains on 119 stations across several MRT lines. These include the North South, East West, Circle, and Thomson–East Coast lines. SMRT also operates 13 stations on the Bukit Panjang LRT line.
