The first stage of the new Downtown Line was opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Saturday morning and the public will be able to start riding on the 4.3km line from Sunday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony at Downtown station, PM Lee said this first stage marks the beginning of plans to double the rail network to 360km by 2030. He noted that the Government is continuing to invest in public transport infrastructure to make Singapore a better home and raise the quality of life. In the immediate term, 16 new bus routes and 111 existing bus services have been improved through the ongoing Bus Service Enhancement Programme, he said.

The Government is also investing more resources into maintaining and servicing existing train infrastructure, and this has improved service and reliability standards, he added.

The six stations along Downtown Line Stage 1 are Chinatown, Telok Ayer, Downtown, Bayfront, Promenade and Bugis. Downtown Line Stage 2, which runs from Bukit Panjang along the Bukit Timah Road corridor, will be ready in 2016 while Stage 3 in the east will open in 2017. Once fully completed, the 42km Downtown Line will be the world's longest driverless underground MRT line.