Stage 1 of the Downtown Line (DTL) was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday morning, and will start serving the public from today onwards.

PM Lee said at the opening ceremony of the new MRT line that the DTL1 is the first step in plans to double Singapore's rail network to 360km by 2030.

He added that the Government will continue to invest in public transport infrastructure in order to raise standard of living in Singapore. For instance, the Bus Service Enhancement Programme has improved 111 existing bus services and added 16 new bus routes.

The six-station DTL1 will connect Chinatown to Bugis via Telok Ayer, Downtown, Bayfront, and Promenade stations. Stage 2 of the DTL will be completed in 2016, running from Bukit Panjang along Bukit Timah Road. Stage 3, the final stage of DTL, will open in 2017.

At 42km, the DTL will be the world's longest driverless underground MRT line once fully completed.