Issued By: Transit Link Pte Ltd
From 1 December 2002, the ez-link Cards will fully replace magnetic Farecards for travel on buses and the MRT/LRT. All existing valid Farecards can continue to be used till the end of November 2002.
Last TransitLink Farecards
From Saturday, 16 November 2002, TransitLink will no longer sell magnetic Farecards and will also not re-value them. All TransitLink Ticket Sales Offices, Add Value Machines, convenience stores and SMRT’s Passenger Service Centres will therefore cease to sell and/or re-value TransitLink Farecards from that day.
Commuters can return their valid magnetic Farecards for a refund of its value at any Ticket Office (TO) at any time even after the system is fully ez-link operational from 1 December 2002. This is so that commuters would not be inconvenienced with refunding their Farecards before the switchover. GIRO Farecard holders need not visit any TO to turn in their cards. Their GIRO Farecards’ remaining deposit and travel value would be credited directly into their bank accounts from 1 Dec 2002.
ez-link Cards
Commuters (Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents and holders of Employment Pass, Work Permit and Foreign Student Pass) who have yet to buy their first adult ez-link Card with the lower deposit of $3 may still do so from any TransitLink Ticket Office up till end 2002. The Adult ez-link Card will be available with the normal $5 deposit from 1 January 2003.
The number of ez-link Cards in circulation as of 30 September totals more than 3.1 million cards. With the ez-link Cards enjoying high take up amongst commuters, the number of Farecards sold each month has fallen from a total of more than 210,000 cards in January to about 21,000 in September this year.
With the introduction of the GIRO feature for ez-link Cards slated for late October and the sale of ez-link Park & Ride set from the middle of November, commuters would have the full range of ez-link Card alternatives to choose from.