Selected East-West Line MRT stations to close on Sundays for cable replacement works

SINGAPORE — A few stations along the East-West Line will close on Sundays from March 14 to May 23 for cable replacement works on the Tuas West Extension of the line.

The closures affect six stations from Pioneer to Tuas Link on three Sundays in March as well as on April 4, April 11 and April 18.

Four stations from Gul Circle to Tuas Link will be closed on April 25, as well as on May 2, May 9, May 16 and May 23.

Train services will operate as usual on the following Monday, SMRT said in a media release on Tuesday (March 2).

SMRT said earlier on Tuesday that the Sunday closures will take place from March 7 to May 16, but it updated the schedule to push it back by a week "to provide commuters with more time to make alternative travel plans".

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in October last year that its main contractor will replace 150km of power cables and more than 100 circuit breaker components along the Tuas West Extension, after some faulty parts led to a major disruption of train services on Oct 14.

More than 120,000 commuters along the North-South, East-West and Circle lines were affected by the evening peak-hour disruption which LTA said was caused by the "occurrence of concurrent faults", starting with a faulty power cable on the Tuas West Extension.

All circuit breaker trip coils along the Tuas West Extension have since been replaced. 

In announcing the new closures, SMRT said: "The full Sunday closures will provide more engineering hours and accelerate the cable replacement works, which are expected to be completed by end-2021."

Shuttle bus Service 3 will be available during the full Sunday closures for commuters travelling along the affected sectors. The buses will serve designated bus stops near the affected MRT stations.

"Commuters are advised to plan their journeys ahead of time and to cater for additional travel time when travelling during the affected periods," said SMRT.

Updates on changes in train operation hours and alternative transport arrangements can be found on SMRT Trains’ website as well as through SMRT’s Facebook page, Twitter feed and the SMRTConnect app. CNA

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