Here's to a fresh start to public transport — the government will soon be taking over all assets of SMRT. Exactly what many have been waiting to happen, especially considering the excessive amount of delays and disruptions to train services over the past several years.
SMRT will be transferring all of its operating assets to the new rail financing framework set up by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) come Oct 1, pending SMRT shareholders' approval. The transfer comes at a colossal price too; LTA will pay SMRT nearly $1 billion for the over 60,000 assets, which include trains and signalling systems.