Fare Revenues and Profitability of Thomson-East Coast Line Rail Operator

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are (i) the amount of fare revenues that have been generated by the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) since the opening of phase 1 of the MRT line and (ii) the amount of service fees paid to the rail operator in the same period; and (b) whether the rail operator is profitable in relation to the TEL.

The Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) operates on a gross cost model during the initial years. This means Government takes the fare revenue risk, as it collects the fare revenue and pays the TEL operator a service fee for operating and maintaining the line.

TEL opened on 31 January 2020. For the financial year ending on 31 March 2020, the TEL fare revenue collected by LTA was about $0.2 million while the service fee paid to the operator was about $23 million. During this same period, the operator, SMRT TEL, incurred an operating loss of about $0.13 million, based on its first two months of operations.

This is expected, as TEL is opening in phases and ridership will take time to build up. By doing so, we are better able to iron out teething issues and ensure that the system is more stable and reliable.