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Free travel on trains before 7.45am from June 24

Commuters who are willing to get up earlier and travel to the city area before 7.45am will get free train rides from June 24.

Those who get off trains between 7.45am and 8am in the morning will get a 50 cents discount on their fares. The incentives are part of the government's year-long trial to coax train users to travel earlier and spread out the peak hour crush.

The trial was announced by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew on Tuesday morning at Raffles Place station. The free travel trial will be implemented in 16 stations where commuters alight, including City Hall, Raffles Place and the Clarke Quay.

Mr Lui projects that 10 to 20 per cent of commuters travelling between 8.15am and 9am in the morning will start their journeys earlier. The government will pick up the tab for the trial which is expected to cost $10 million.

Click here to take a Facebook poll which asks whether you will change your travel patterns for a free ride.

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