Circle Line hit by third MRT signalling fault in four days

SINGAPORE — Train services on the Circle Line slowed to a crawl during the rush-hour commute yesterday, as another signalling fault — the third in four days — hit the MRT network.

Operator SMRT said train services on the line were affected between 6am to 9am yesterday, after a defective signal connector was found between Mountbatten and Stadium MRT stations. This added about 20 minutes of travelling time for commuters, as trains ran at slower speeds and SMRT engineers tried to rectify the fault. SMRT spokesperson Alina Boey said additional trains were deployed to cope with the crowd build-up along the line.

On Monday, a track circuit failure between Yew Tee and Kranji stations caused trains to slow down, resulting in commuters being late for work and school. The affected commuters included some Republic Polytechnic and Nanyang Polytechnic students who were late for their examinations.

The next evening, a fault on the signal code generator that provides the train with speed codes affected southbound services between Ang Mo Kio and Marina Bay stations.

The Land Transport Authority yesterday reiterated that train slowdowns could result in penalties being imposed on the rail operator. The authority would need to investigate whether the operator had breached any regulatory provisions, such as maintenance and incident management requirements, a spokesperson said. Sumita Sreedharan