SINGAPORE - New York's pizza rat, meet Singapore's MacPherson MRT rat.

Singapore got its own public transit-loving rodent on Tuesday when project manager Kenneth Woo spotted a rat scurrying inside MacPherson MRT. He whipped out his phone, caught footage of the furry intruder, and submitted the video to citizen journalism website Stomp.

Unlike its New York counterpart, who could be seen dragging around a piece of pizza in a video that drew 9.7 million views on Youtube, the rat in MacPherson MRT was running about relatively unencumbered.

It was unclear what exactly the rat was doing in the MRT station, but pest control firms had some theories.

General manager of Star Pest Control Bernard Chan said there could be a whole host of reasons for the sighting.

For instance, he said rats can travel up to 200m to search for food. He also said that seeing the rat in a place like an MRT station might point to the presence of a nearby predator, or of human activity such as renovation works outside.

He also said that the recent prolonged bouts of rain might have disturbed the rat's nest.

Chief executive of PestBusters Thomas Fernandez meanwhile said that said that seeing a rat in the daytime might be cause for some concern, because it could mean a rat overpopulation nearby.

SMRT's vice-president for corporate information and communications, Mr Patrick Nathan, said that SMRT has "activated pest control to locate the source and take the necessary measures to eradicate the problem" while the National Environment Agency said that it was aware of the feedback at the MRT station and is currently looking into the issue.

This is the second time in a week, rats have made a nuisance of themselves in Singapore. last week Kim San Leng Food Centre in Bishan was fined $1,100 and suspended for a day due to a rat infestation.