Commuters hit by morning rush-hour train delays for second time this week

SINGAPORE – An hour-long train fault on the North-East Line (NEL) caused delays for commuters on Wednesday (April 11), the second time this week that their morning rush-hour commute has been disrupted.

Wednesday's disruption saw services suspended between Outram Park and Potong Pasir stations in both directions at one point, after rail operator SBS Transit first warned commuters about a train fault at Little India station at 7.30am.

It initially warned commuters to expect delays of about 15 minutes for trains travelling towards HarbourFront, and later told them to factor in an additional travel time of about 30 minutes due to slower-moving trains.

"Longer travel times of about 30 minutes were experienced during this period as a 12-car push out to HarbourFront Station was conducted to get the faulty train off the track," explained Ms Tammy Tan, SBS Transit's senior vice-president of corporate communications.

SBS Transit said train services resumed around 8.36am, but warned commuters of crowded stations and delays of about 15 minutes between Punggol and HarbourFront stations. Regular service resumed at 9.18am, the transport operator added.

On Monday, a track fault that lasted three hours on the East-West Line caused delays for morning rush hour commuters in the western end of Singapore.