From 29 June 2014, residents in Punggol West will have another travel option with the opening of the Punggol West Light Rail Transit (LRT) System.

Three stations - Nibong (PW5), Sumang (PW6) and Soo Teck (PW7) - will commence operations at 11.15am on Sunday, 29 June 2014, providing commuters with convenient access to the Punggol MRT Station and bus interchange where they can then connect to the other modes of public transport to get around Singapore.

SBS Transit Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gan Juay Kiat, said: "We have been closely monitoring the Punggol West developments and waiting for the day when residential and commercial developments would start sprouting. That day is here and we are delighted to commence operations to serve the travel needs of commuters living and working in the vicinity."

Mr Vincent Chua, 30, Operation Executive, said: "I am so happy to know about the opening of the Punggol West LRT as it will make it very convenient for me to get to work and also to town to shop and meet friends. With this, the MRT station and bus interchange will become very accessible for us. This is indeed very good news!"

From the start of operation to 3pm every day, the Light Rail Vehicles (LRV) will operate in one direction serving Nibong Station (PW5), Sumang Station (PW6), Soo Teck Station (PW7), Punggol Town Centre Station and back to Nibong Station again as a continuous loop. There will be no LRV service between Sam Kee Station (PW1) and Samudera Station (PW4).

From 3pm to the end of service, LRVs will run in the opposite direction, departing from the Punggol Town Centre Station and arriving at Soo Teck Station (PW7) first. This demand driven arrangement will provide the majority of commuters with a faster way to get to the Town Centre Station during the first half of the day and back to their homes during the second half of the day.

The first LRV on the Punggol West LRT will commence at Nibong Station PW5 at 5.22am on Mondays to Saturdays and at 5.42am on Sundays and Public Holidays. The last LRV will depart the Town Centre Station at 12.40am daily.

LRV service will operate at a frequency of between seven and eight minutes throughout the day. The public transport distance fare structure will be applied on the Punggol West LRT system. The remaining four stations (PW1 to PW4) on the Punggol West LRT system will be opened at a later date as more developments come onstream.

A day after the opening of the Punggol West LRT system, SBS Transit will be adding 45 additional train trips each week to the evening weekday peak schedules of the North East Line. Nine new trips a day will be added between 4.30pm and 9.00pm from Mondays to Fridays to cater to the increase in ridership. Train frequency will remain at between 2.5 and 3.5 minutes.