Train fault delays commuters along NSL

SINGAPORE – Commuters were hit by rush hour train delays along the North South Line that lasted more than half on Friday (July 7).

SMRT announced at 8.31am that it was “due to a train fault”, and while train services still available, commuters were told to expect 30 minutes of additional travel time between Woodlands and Jurong East.

Free boarding services were activated between Choa Chu Kang and Jurong East.

Commuters caught in the delays took to social media to air their frustrations, with some stating that train services further down the line were stopping at every station for an extended duration.

In a later update at 8.56am, SMRT reduced the delay in time to 10 minutes and that “they were working to recover the service".

However, some commuters reacting to the later update from SMRT stated that they had been waiting for longer than that. Twitter user Steve Remington said that he had waited at the Braddell station "for over 15 minutes with six over full trains hardly able to take passengers."

MyatKyu had tweeted in response to SMRT's update that she had to wait 40 minutes to board a train because the trains were too crowded, and there were long intervals between the train arrivals.

Another Twitter user, Henry Ang, said that the took 45 minutes to travel from Sembawang to Yishun, a journey that typically takes about 10 minutes.

Regular train services between Woodlands and Jurong East resumed about 45 minutes later at 9.13am.