When it opened on 12 December, 1987, the Raffles Place MRT Station was the biggest subway station in Singapore. It has since dropped to third place behind the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station and Bras Basah MRT Station.
The Raffles Place MRT Station is linked to Raffles Xchange, a subterranean mall, located at Basement 1. Raffles Xchange provides seamless link from the MRT station to the surrounding buildings such as Hitachi Tower, Republic Plaza, Chevron House and UOB Plaza. Other buildings in the vicinity include the Bank of China Building. Among the shopping malls nearby include Far East Square.