SINGAPORE - Commuters will get to travel on the Downtown Line for free on the first two days of the Downtown Line 3's opening, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement on Tuesday (Sept 19).

The DTL3, which will have 16 stations from Fort Canning to Singapore Expo, will open to passengers on Oct 21, a Saturday.

Once it is launched, the DTL will be fully operational and will be Singapore's longest underground MRT line, spanning 42km.

Commuters will get to travel for free along the 34 DTL stations on that day and the following day.

The free rides are only for passengers starting and ending their journeys along DTL1, 2 and 3 on Oct 21 and 22.

To get the free rides, passengers can tap in and out as per normal at the fare gates, and no fare will be deducted.

Commuters who are transferring from other lines at interchange stations - such as the Bugis station on the East-West Line, the Little India station on the North East Line, or the Promenade station on the Circle Line - can tap out from the non-DTL station and tap into DTL to get free travel for the DTL leg of the journey.

However, there are special arrangements for passengers who are transferring at Bukit Panjang, Newton and Tampines stations, as these are different from regular interchange stations and commuters have to go through a public area outside the fare gates to change lines.

Those who are transferring to the DTL from these stations can use any fare gate to tap out but must use the dedicated fare gates to tap in to get the free rides on the DTL.

There will be signs and posters at these three stations to direct commuters.

Aside from the free rides,there will also be a DTL3 Open House on Oct 15 where commuters can get a free preview of the new stations.

There will be activities at the DTL3 stations from 10am to 6pm.

On Saturday (Sept 16), visitors walked along train tracks between the upcoming Geylang Bahru and Mattar stations as part of a community engagement session ahead of the line's opening.