SINGAPORE — Train services at 13 stations on the East-West and North-South lines will begin nearly an hour later than usual every Sunday from June 5 to Dec 18, said SMRT in a press release on Wednesday (May 11).

The plan for a later start time on Sundays was first announced by the transport operator last month. The move is to facilitate track maintenance and renewal works on the western sector of the rail network, said SMRT.

The 13 affected stations are between Joo Koon and Queenstown on the East-West Line and Jurong East to Bukit Gombak on the North-South Line. Commuters who utilise train services before the new start time are encouraged to plan their travel to start after 7am or consider alternative transport arrangements.

SMRT is also starting a new parallel bus service to ply the route from Joo Koon MRT station to Bukit Gombak MRT station (via Jurong East MRT station) in both directions. The service will operate with a 10-minute interval between 5.30am and 7am on Sundays when train services are not available. Fares will be commensurate with the train distance travelled. Train, bus and hybrid concession passes will be accepted and distance fare rules will be applied for the new route.

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SMRT said: “We seek the understanding and patience of commuters as we do our very best to complete our track maintenance and renewal programmes on time, while we continue to run train services and serve our commuters every day.”

The later start times “will give our project teams, track patrol teams and maintenance teams 29 additional work nights over the 6-month period”, the company added.

Existing bus services are already available for commuters travelling between Jurong East and Queenstown MRT stations, and they may also use the Circle Line and Downtown Line to head to the city centre.