Train services at 13 stations to start at 7am on Sundays from June

SINGAPORE — Commuters who are early risers on Sundays, take note: Train services at 13 MRT stations on the North-South and East-West Lines will start running an hour later at 7am on Sundays between June 5 and Dec 18, due to scheduled renewal and maintenance works. 

There are 11 affected stations on the East-West Line — from Joo Koon to Queenstown — and two on the North-South Line — from Bukit Gombak to Jurong East, which is an interchange on the East-West Line.

There will be a new parallel bus service to ply the route from Joo Koon to Bukit Gombak in both directions, SMRT said in a statement on Friday (April 15). The service will operate with a 10-minute interval between 5.30am and 7.00am on Sundays when train services are not available. Fares will be commensurate with the train distance travelled. Train, bus and hybrid concession passes will be accepted and distance fare rules will be applied for the new route.

The later start time excludes public holidays that fall on Sundays, and will give the public transport operator’s engineering crew the equivalent of 29 extra “maintenance nights” over the six months to do their work. Right now, teams have about three to four hours each night to carry out works to renew and upgrade the train system, which include replacing the sleepers (the timber pieces holding the tracks), the signalling system, and the third rail. This is on top of the regular maintenance for daily train operations.  

“The various project teams, track patrol teams and maintenance teams compete for the limited engineering hours available every night between the end of service and the start of service the following day,” SMRT said.

With the extra time, engineers can replace 2,320 more sleepers and an extra 3,230m of the third rail, which runs parallel to the tracks and provides electricity to the trains, SMRT added. 

For the East-West Line, with train operations ending early since November 2015 for some stations, engineers have replaced half of the 92,000 sleepers to more durable concrete ones, and work is expected to finish in early 2017.

Commuters told TODAY that workers returning home from their night shifts and those reporting for early morning shifts in the western areas would likely be the ones most affected by the first train service’s later timing. One commuter, who identified himself as Mr Lim, usually takes the first train from Boon Lay to Jurong East before switching to the North-South Line. “It will affect me when I have to go to work in Ang Mo Kio on Sundays,” he said.

Mr Gwee Yap Phing, 68, who lives in Bukit Batok and who used to travel from home to Joo Koon for his morning work shift before taking a break recently, said: “I think it will be better if the train operator were to end the services earlier (rather than start later). There are more likely to be more buses and other forms of transport at night than in the morning.” 

Commuters who need to travel before 7am may want to take buses to the other train stations not affected by the works, or use the Circle Line and Downtown Line to get to the city, SMRT said. They should also check for updates on SMRT’s website and social media channels.