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Commuters hit by Wednesday morning peak-hour train delay of up to 40 mins

SINGAPORE — Rush hour commuters were hit with train delays on the East-West Line (EWL) of up to 40 minutes on Wednesday (Sept 19) morning due to a track point fault at Clementi station.

Commuters at Jurong East MRT station on Wednesday (Sept 19) morning. Train services had to be stopped between Clementi and Jurong East stations to allow SMRT staff to check on the track point fault.

Commuters at Jurong East MRT station on Wednesday (Sept 19) morning. Train services had to be stopped between Clementi and Jurong East stations to allow SMRT staff to check on the track point fault.

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SINGAPORE — Rush-hour commuters were hit with train delays on the East-West Line (EWL) of up to 40 minutes on Wednesday (Sept 19) morning due to a track point fault at Clementi station.

The last time train services were delayed longer than 30 minutes was in November last year, following a collision between two SMRT trains at Joo Koon station which was caused by a software glitch in the signalling system of the EWL. 

Wednesday morning’s train fault occurred at around 7am, rail operator SMRT said. Train services had to be stopped between Clementi and Jurong East stations to allow its staff to check on the fault, the rail operator added in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning. However, as at 1pm, train services were still delayed by up 30 minutes. 

The track fault was finally rectified at 1.35pm, SMRT said in a tweet, and regular services resumed at about 1.50pm - almost 7 hours later.

Weighing in on the disruption, Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary said that the authorities could have decided to stop services and allow the crew to remedy the problem, but that would have had a “very big impact on the commuter experience”. 

“The decision we took now allows trains to pass but it’s slowing down the commute,” he said on the sidelines of the official opening of the  SG Mobility Gallery at the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Hampshire Road office, where the government also announced its plan to seek public views for the next Land Transport Master Plan.

“On balance, that was better for the commuters, but it does mean that it’s going to take a little bit of time to ascertain exactly what the problem is with the switch mechanism. SMRT and LTA engineers are on the ground and I expect this will be resolved in a matter of hours,” Dr Puthucheary added.

SMRT first announced the delay at 7.10 am, with train services between Jurong East and Clementi stations delayed for 30 minutes due to a “track point fault at Clementi”.

It added that free regular bus services were available between Jurong East and Queenstown stations. A few minutes later, free regular bus and bus bridging services were extended to Boon Lay.

It further advised commuters heading into the city to take the North-South Line via Woodlands, Ang Mo Kio and Orchard stations.

By 8.15am, train delays had increased to 40 minutes between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations. 

In a Facebook post at 8.39am, SMRT said its engineers “are on site doing their best to rectify the fault”, adding that “services have progressively resumed”.

However, more than five hours since the track fault occurred, SMRT said while train services on the EWL were still available, its engineers were still rectifying the fault. As such, trains are moving slower between Clementi and Jurong East and the rail operator advised commuters to add 30 minutes of travel time between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations. 

The delay is the second disruption on the line in as many days.

On Tuesday morning, commuters on the EWL were hit by a delay that added about 15 minutes of travel time from Joo Koon to Jurong East stations. That delay, which SMRT attributed to a platform screen door fault, was resolved within 30 minutes.   ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KENNETH CHENG

 

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