3 bus services, 2 MRT trips from Pioneer to Tampines: How one family was affected by full Sunday closure

SINGAPORE — A weekly journey on the MRT train from Pioneer at the western side of the island to Tampines at the other end, for a game of badminton with their relatives, turned into a taxing affair on Sunday (Dec 10) morning for Mr Chan Si Yong and his parents.

The family, who lives in Jurong West, got up about 45 minutes earlier to try and get to Tampines Safra for their 11am game. The MRT station that they live closest to — Pioneer — is one of 19 stations along the East-West Line (EWL) and North-South Line which will be closed this and next Sunday, to allow for track maintenance and renewal work.

With the stretch of EWL stations between Tuas Link and Tiong Bahru shuttered, Mr Chan, 25, and his parents found themselves having to take an alternative route.

From their home, they took SBS Transit service 179 to Boon Lay bus interchange. There, they transferred to service 174 to Beauty World, and took the Downtown Line to Bugis. From there, they got on the EWL to travel to Bedok, where they hopped onto service 28 to reach Tampines Safra. In all, they took around two hours.

This was in contrast to their normal route, which takes about 1.5 hours: Taking service 179 to Pioneer MRT station, and then a straight train on the EWL to Bedok, before switching to service 28 to Tampines Safra.

The longer, more complicated journey on Sunday took a slight toll on Mr Chan’s parents, Mdm Ho Lay Teen, 51, and retiree Chan Meng Fa, 57.

“The journey has become more troublesome because we had to change so many times... and we didn’t get to sit down much. We normally get a seat on the train at Pioneer,” said Mdm Ho, an accounts executive.

The Chan family has played badminton at Tampines for almost two decades, despite living on the other end of the island. The younger Mr Chan’s uncle, aunt and cousins live just 10 minutes away by car in Bedok, and the badminton courts at Tampines Safra are “better and cheaper”, he said.

“We were already considered pretty lucky with our bus arrival timings. When we got off the bus, the next bus came almost immediately and we barely had to wait five minutes,” added Mr Chan, an executive at Sport Singapore. “If we had to wait for the bus or the train to come, it would have been an additional 15 to 20 minutes.”

After their two-hour game, the group took Mr Chan’s uncle’s car to have lunch at Bedok North, then headed to their grandmother’s house at Tanjong Pagar till about 7.30pm. From there, they would usually take the MRT back to Pioneer.

However, because of the full-day closure, the family had to take the MRT from Tanjong Pagar to Bugis. There, Mr Chan switched to the Downtown Line to get to Bukit Panjang where his girlfriend lives. Mr Chan spent some time at his girlfriend's place while his parents took the Downtown Line to Beauty World, switched to bus service 174 to Boon Lay, then went on service 179 to reach home.

On why they did not consider taking a taxi or private-hire car, Mr Chan said his parents are thrifty. Besides, a ride from one end of the island to the other could be quite costly, he added.

Despite the additional hassle, they will again make the same two-hour journey involving multiple transfers next Sunday. The badminton courts have already been booked, and Mdm Ho said she would “just have to tahan (malay for bear with it) one more time”. “It’s the best alternative,” she added.