Transportation in Singapore

Situated at the crossroads of international shipping and air routes, Singapore is a center for transportation and communication in southeast Asia.

Contents

Aviation

Changi International Airport is a regional aviation hub served by 64 international airlines and is being expanded with the construction of a third terminal slated for completion in 2006.

Airports: 9 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (1999 est.)

Heliports: 1 (1999 est.)

Cable

A long cable car service provides a scenic route between the main island of Singapore and the smaller Singaporean resort island of Sentosa.

Rail

Railways: 38.6 km, narrow gauge, 1.000 m. The island rail's terminal at Keppel Station is linked to the Malaysian rail network KTM across the 1.2-km causeway to Johor Bahru on the Malaysian mainland. It connects with Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

There is a 109 km heavy rail system known as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) with 67 stations. There are three main lines running at present: the North-South Line, the East-West Line (both operated by SMRT Corporation), and the North-East Line (operated by SBS Transit). A new Circle Line is slated for completion in 2010 and will be opened in phases as the various stations are ready.

In 1998, a 7.8 km Light Rapid Transport (LRT) system with 14 stations was introduced in Bukit Panjang. Another light rail line was opened in 2003, the Sengkang LRT; a third LRT line, Punggol LRT, is being built.

Road

Singapore has two land links to Malaysia. The Causeway, built in the 1920s to connect Johor Bahru (Johor, Malaysia) to Woodlands in Singapore, carries a road and a railway line whereas the Tuas Second Link, a bridge further west, was completed in 1996 and links Tuas in Singapore to Gelang Patah in Johor (Malaysia).

Singapore pioneered the modern use of toll roads to enter the most congested city area with the Singapore Area Licensing Scheme, which has since been replaced with the Electronic Road Pricing, a form of electronic toll collection.

The island's bus and taxi services are very cheap compared to those of other countries and are heavily subsidised by the government.

Highways:
total: 3,122 km
paved: 3,038 km (including 150 km of expressways)
unpaved: 84 km (1998)

Traffic drives on the left.

Ship

The Port of Singapore is the world's busiest and ranks second globally as a center for containerised transshipment traffic.

Ports and harbors: Singapore

Merchant marine:
total: 891 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,808,813 GRT/34,783,544 DWT
ships by type: bulk 140, cargo 121, chemical tanker 66, combination bulk 6, combination ore/oil 6, container 162, liquified gas 26, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large load carrier 3, petroleum tanker 294, refrigerated cargo 6, roll-on/roll-off 10, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 12, vehicle carrier 36 (1999 est.)
note: a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 22 countries among which are Japan 41, Denmark 35, Sweden 28, Thailand 28, Hong Kong 26, Germany 19, Taiwan 19, and Indonesia 11 (1998 est.)

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