Train and bus commuters will see a 4.6 per cent reduction in fares from April 1, announced transport operators and authorities on Thursday.

The fare revision exercise for 2009, originally scheduled for October, has been brought forward.

This "more than offsets the fare increases of the past three years combined", said SMRT, SBS Transit, the Ministry of Transport and the Public Transport Council (PTC) in a joint news release.

The reduction package will comprise two components - a fare rebate and an increase in transfer rebate.

This translates to a 2-cents reduction in EZ-Link fare for adults and senior citizens, and a 1-cent reduction for children and students on a direct journey with no transfers.

The transfer rebate for all adult and senior citizen concession EZ-Link journeys will be further increased by 10-cents, from the current 40-cents to 50-cents.

For children and students, the existing 10-cent transfer rebate EZLink fares will remain unchanged.

The adjustments will both apply from April 1 onwards, but changes to the fare rebates will last only till June 30 next year, when the next fare revision exercise is due.