Commuters brace for longer travelling time on Tuas West Extension

SINGAPORE – Commuters working in the vicinity of Tuas West Extension stations found that getting to the office would take at least 15 minutes longer in the coming weeks, as they had a taste of interrupted train service between Joo Koon and Gul Circle stations for the first time Monday (Nov 20).

Following the train collision last week that was traced to a signaling glitch that struck as a train crossed over from the old signaling system on the East-West Line to a new one on the Tuas West Extension, the Land Transport Authority said train service between Joo Koon and Gul Circle stations will be cut for up to one month to allow for assurance checks. The train collision on Nov 15 left 38 people injured.

This meant commuters on the East-West Line who want to reach the last four stations on the western end – Gul Circle, Tuas Crescent, Tuas West Road, and Tuas Link – have to tap out at Joo Koon, hop on a free shuttle bus, and resume their trip from Gul Circle. The bus transfer took an average of 15 minutes. Commuters do not pay extra when they tap out at Joo Koon and continue their journey on the train at Gul Circle.

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When TODAY visited Joo Koon MRT Station at 6.30am on Monday, commuters said they were “fed up” with the inconvenience even though shuttle buses between the two MRT stations departed as frequently as every minute.

Finance executive Jerrina Tang, 53, said it was “a rush to get (off) the train” to transfer to Gul Circle by bus, adding that she was “scared it would be very jammed and crowded”.

Having bus bridging services stretching from Joo Koon to stations on the Tuas West Extension throughout the month would have made things easier for commuters, she added.

“It’s faster (compared with) going up, down, up, down. We (waste) all this time travelling,” she said, adding that she had to set off from her home in Woodlands earlier than her usual 6.50am to reach her workplace at Tuas Link at the same time.

A civil engineer who wanted to be known only as Mr Thiru, 34, said his superiors have given him about 15 minutes’ leeway in terms of reporting time at work. He lives in Woodlands and has to reach Tuas West Road MRT Station by 8.50am.

Mdm Yati, 50, a cleaner who works at Tuas West is also concerned about congestion and having to jostle for a space on the buses in the evenings. 

“It will be very difficult for us... I think SMRT has been (struck) by bad luck this year,” she said, adding that she hopes that “things can go back to normal soon.”

“(There are hundreds) of workers affected by all these disruptions,” she added.

Mr Lim Hup Lai, 55, who works in the construction industry, expressed similar views.

Noting that his journey from his Choa Chu Kang home to Tuas Link has lengthened by about half an hour, he lamented in Mandarin that he has “no choice … (but to) get used to it”.

“I just don’t want MRT disruptions because the impact is very big,” he added.

A commuter who works as a security guard for a building at Gul Circle, who identified himself as Mr Koh, said he woke up at 5.30am, 15 minutes earlier than usual, to leave his home in Ang Mo Kio on Monday.

While the 57-year-old acknowledged that the shuttle buses ran frequently, the extra 30 minutes or so needed for commuting to and from work every day adds up. He plans to put in a request to his employer to transfer to a building nearer to his home.

“I just have no confidence in the MRT system now,” said Mr Koh in Mandarin.