Signalling faults on North South Line cause delays during morning rush hour

SINGAPORE — Commuters starting their workweek on Monday (June 12) were frustrated by train delays during the morning rush hour, due to signalling faults along the North-South Line (NSL).

SMRT told commuters via its Twitter feed at around 9.20am to add 20 minutes to their commute if they were travelling between Choa Chu Kang and Jurong East stations.

Passengers aired their grievances on Facebook, stating that they were stuck in stationary trains. 

Facebook user Janet Soh, who said that she was stuck in a train for 30 minutes, lamented the duration of the delay. 

“Stuck in SMRT train for at least 35mins now, keep playing the same announcement ‘Due to system fault, train will be delayed for a short while’. Is 30mins short?” she said.

She added: “The system is definitely getting worse. I’m getting late for work!!”

Ms Janis Zhang wrote in a Facebook post that trains were delayed at the Bukit Batok MRT station for “more than half an hour”.

SMRT announced at around 9.50am that trains had resumed running at normal speeds, about half an hour after it first announced the delays.

There were two delays on the NSL on the first two days of June, following the start of SMRT’s weekday signalling tests.

In a blog post made last week, SMRT said that the June holidays present the “best opportunity” to carry out tests on the new signalling system as there are not enough engineering hours — from 1.30am to 4.30am each day — to adequately test the system. 

The transport operator also noted that the new signalling system requires tests on an existing line with various train fleets — unlike new MRT train lines, on which intensive testing can be conducted with a single type of train before passenger service starts.