Arriving in Singapore: Changi to the City, Paying for Transport, and the Fines

Changi is connected to the city by MRT, public bus and taxi, and the trains and buses take a contactless bank card. Before you fly, submit the SG Arrival Card.

By MRT

The Changi Airport MRT station is linked directly to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. It is on a short branch line, so you change once:

• At Tanah Merah, for the East West Line into the city.
• Or at Expo, for the Downtown Line.

Changi publishes first and last trains towards the airport. The last trains leave Tanah Merah at 11:50 PM and Expo at 11:53 PM, every day. The first leave Tanah Merah at 5:20 AM Monday to Saturday and 5:47 AM on Sundays and public holidays. The page gives no times for trains leaving the airport, so check the station board when you arrive late.

By bus

Changi lists buses 24, 27, 34, 36, 44, 53, 110 and 858 as serving all three main terminals. At Terminal 4, buses 24, 34, 36, 44 and 110 stop directly. For 27, 53 and 858, you get off at Terminal 2 and take the shuttle from T2 Arrival Pick-Up Door 1 to Terminal 4.

If you pay cash on a bus, Changi says to prepare the exact fare, because “no change will be given”.

By taxi

Changi says you can hail a taxi or book one in advance, and names Comfort or CityCab, Prime Taxi and Trans-Cab. It adds that “Surcharges may apply”, without giving the amount.

Booking a taxi in an app, or checking whether the last train has gone, means having data at the arrival hall. Install Saily at home and it connects when the plane lands. It is one profile for the whole trip, so if Singapore is followed by Bangkok or Bali, you add a plan for the next country instead of hunting for another SIM.

Paying: tap your bank card

SimplyGo, the public transport payment system, accepts “American Express, Mastercard, NETS and Visa bank cards with the EMVCo Contactless Indicator, including foreign-issued cards” at MRT and LRT gates and on public buses. It does not cover private buses. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay work as well.

A foreign-issued Mastercard or Visa carries a charge: “A Foreign Bank Card Admin Fee of SGD 0.60 per day will apply.” It is per day of travel, not per ride. The SimplyGo page does not say whether a foreign American Express card is charged the same.

Or buy the Singapore Tourist Pass

SimplyGo still sells the Singapore Tourist Pass for “trains and basic bus services”. It costs SGD 17 for 1 day, SGD 24 for 2 days, SGD 29 for 3 days, SGD 37 for 4 days and SGD 45 for 5 days. Buy it at selected SimplyGo Ticket Offices, SimplyGo Ticketing Service Centres and the Automated Kiosks.

Fines a visitor can pick up

• Littering. The National Environment Agency (NEA) says “Litterbugs will be subjected to a composition amount of $300 for a first offence.” A court can also order up to 12 hours of cleaning public areas.
• Smoking. You may smoke only in “the smoking facilities i.e. smoking corner, smoking room and designated smoking area”, NEA says. Its 2019 notice on Orchard Road put the penalty for smoking elsewhere at a composition sum of SGD 200, or a fine of up to SGD 1,000 if convicted in court.
• Eating on public transport. SBS Transit tells bus passengers: “Do not smoke, eat, drink or litter in the bus.” We could not open the MRT operators’ rules pages on 4 November 2026, so follow the signs in stations.

Vaping and chewing gum have their own rules: see Singapore’s vaping ban and the chewing gum import ban.

Emergency numbers

For an ambulance or fire, call 995, or SMS 70995. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) says “$274 will be charged for each non-emergency case that SCDF conveys to hospital.”

The 1777 non-emergency ambulance hotline is closing. The Ministry of Health says it “will cease the 1777 non-emergency ambulance hotline from 1 January 2027”, and points to NurseFirst on 6262 6262 and private ambulance operators instead.

For a visitor who needs a doctor but not an ambulance, Air Doctor lists doctors across Singapore for a clinic visit, a hotel visit or a video call. Its terms say it is “NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT”. Call 995 for an emergency, and book Air Doctor for the rest.