SMRT to deploy 1,200 staff at 10 EWL stations during shortened operating hours

SINGAPORE — Twenty per cent more staff will be deployed to handle commuters’ queries when 10 stations on the eastern stretch of the East-West Line (EWL) cut operating hours on weekends to quicken maintenance and renewal works this month, starting this week.

In all, 1,200 staff, including bus captains operating the shuttle services in lieu of train service, will fan out to the stations – from Paya Lebar to Pasir Ris, and Expo and Changi Airport – when they shut earlier at 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and open later at 8am on Saturdays and Sundays. These stations will also close for the whole day on the last two Sundays – Jan 21 and Jan 28.

At a media briefing on Thursday (Jan 4), SMRT Buses’ operations support and resource management director Vincent Gay said it decided to send more workers to the ground following its experience handling the shortened operating hours along the western end of the EWL in December.

“(Learning from the closures on the western half of the line), we need to give more ‘human’ information. A lot of people were still asking for information at the stations,” he noted.

There will be 300 buses plying four shuttle services serving commuters using the affected EWL MRT stations this month – Shuttle 7 between Aljunied and Pasir Ris (both bounds); Shuttle 8 between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport Terminal 3 (both bounds); Shuttle 11 from Aljunied to MacPherson (one direction); and Express 12 between Changi Airport and Bugis (both bounds).

Expo station is connected to the Downtown Line (DTL), while MacPherson MRT Station is connected to both DTL and Circle Line.

SMRT declined to estimate the number of commuters who will be affected by the shorter operating hours but Mr Gay said about one in 10 commuters who take the train from Changi Airport travel to the city.

At the affected stations, larger signage to inform commuters of the affected train service and alternative transport options have been put up at strategic spots. At the airport, for instance, these have been placed at the baggage claim belts, and at escalators leading to the underground MRT station.

From this weekend, train services on the North-South Line (NSL) will also run at longer intervals of between 10 and 15 minutes along seven stations, from Orchard Road to Marina South Pier, after 11pm and before 7am on weekends. In addition, there will be no service between City Hall and Raffles Place stations on the NSL during this period. Commuters can still access the route on the EWL.

The shorter operating hours was announced previously, aimed at doubling the time engineers have on the tracks to carry out works, so that resignalling works on the EWL can be completed in June this year, six months earlier than scheduled. The extra engineering hours will also be used for maintenance and renewal works on the North-South East-West lines.

The first tranche of the shortened operating hours on the western segment of the EWL affected 17 stations in December, from Tiong Bahru to Tuas Link, while services between Joo Koon and Gul Circle stations were suspended entirely until June.