NEL commuters hit with train delays on Thursday evening

SINGAPORE – Evening rush-hour commuters were hit with train delays on the North-East Line on Thursday (Nov 16), with services suspended at five stations – Dhoby Ghaut, Outram Park, Little India, Farrer Park and Boon Keng.

The delays were the fourth train disruption in two days. Services from Joo Koon to Tuas Link MRT stations on the East-West Line (EWL) were also suspended for the day following the collision between two trains on Wednesday.

SBS Transit first alerted commuters at 6.24pm to add additional 10 minutes of travel time due to a train fault at Clarke Quay, in both directions.

At 6.43pm, the rail operator said that free bridging bus rides are available between bus stops at Outram Park and Farrer Park stations, but at 7.04pm, SBS Transit said that train services are not available at Clarke Quay, Dhoby Ghaut and Little India stations.

At 7.47pm, the transport operator tweeted that another two stations were affected – Farrer Park and Boon Keng.

In a media statement, SBS Transit said that the disruption was caused by a defective train that was approaching Clarke Quay towards Punggol.

“To get the defective train off the line, a rescue train was sent to push the defective train out. This push out was completed at about 7.50pm and service progressively returned to normal,” SBS Transit said.

The rail operator added: “We apologise to affected commuters for the inconvenience caused. Meanwhile, we are investigating the cause of the fault”.

Commuters took to social media to vent their frustrations.

IT supervisor Amy Lee told TODAY she was on her way to Dhoby Ghaut after work when she got caught in the train disruption at Outram Park station.

The 35-year-old said that she had waited for about 10 minutes on the platform at Outram Park before any announcement was made.

“I quickly moved on to the EWL after they made the announcement, worrying (that) the crowd might get bigger,” she said.

Ms Lee added that commuters from the EWL were still making their way to the NEL platform even as the announcement had been made.

She added: “Staff were a little lost before there was any announcement being made”.

Ms Lee said that the journey to Dhoby Ghaut, where she had to transfer to the EWL followed by the North-South Line (NSL), took her an additional 15 minutes.

Train services on the NEL resumed at 7.53pm, with the rail operator updating commuters at 8.04pm.

Thursday evening’s train fault was the fourth in two days that commuters have experienced. On Wednesday, early morning commuters were hit by twin delays on the EWL and Circle Line. Later in the evening, commuters endured another delay on the NSL.