ANY extra costs arising from improvements to the public transport system that flow from a recent review will not be passed directly to commuters.

Instead, the pressure will be on transport operators to increase their productivity so that they can survive competition.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim made these points as he addressed concerns raised by Members of Parliament on Thursday.

He said: 'The additional costs of the public transport improvements will not be directly passed on to commuters.'

'In fact, the public transport operators may be spurred on by the competition, to improve their productivity.'

The transport ministry is on a big push to get more people to switch to public transport.

It also plans to introduce more competition in the bus and rail sectors.

These plans were unveiled in three instalments over two weeks in January.

Thursday's parliament sitting was the first opportunity MPs had to query the minister at length on the review.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.