Service on MRT Circle Line resumes after train fault causes delay for morning commuters
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SINGAPORE â Normal service on the Circle Line (CCL) has resumed after commuters were met with delays following a train disruption during their travel on April 29.
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The announcement was made by transport operator SMRT in a Facebook post at 8.11am, and it added that free bus and bridging bus services would cease at 8.15am.
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SMRT had first announced the disruption, caused by a train fault, at 6.09am on Facebook. It said trains between Holland Village and Pasir Panjang were affected and advised commuters to add up to 30 minutes of travel time.
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At 6.28am, SMRT said that trains between Bishan and one-north were affected by a train fault. Free regular bus services were available between Bishan and HarbourFront.
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Later at 6.50am, SMRT said that trains between Paya Lebar and one-north were affected by a train fault and advised commuters to seek alternative MRT lines at Serangoon, Bishan, Caldecott, Botanic Gardens and Buona Vista stations.
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In an update at 7am, SMRT advised commuters to add up to 30 minutes of travel time between Paya Lebar and HarbourFront stations.
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âOur engineers and staff are doing their best to resolve the issue... We are sorry for affecting your morning commute,â it added.
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At 7.40am, SMRT updated that the train fault had cleared and that service was progressively returning to normal.
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Large crowds were still seen at Buona Vista station at 8.20am after train service resumed, with additional staff roped in from other stations to help manage the traffic.
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Morning commuters had earlier taken to social media to warn others about the train fault.
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âI left home at 4.30am and couldnât manage to go to my work place due to the CCL fault. It was only at 6.35am that I managed to board the train to reach Farrer Park MRT. But we were asked to leave the train and had to wait again,â said Facebook user Peen Alvin.
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Another Facebook user, Mr Darron Goh, wrote at 7.03am: âDue to the train delay on CCL, there was a crazy queue when I was at Caldecott MRT five minutes ago... Iâm thankful for the Thomson-East Coast Line.â
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The CCL was the least reliable among five MRT lines in
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2023, based on the latest rail reliability statistics released by the Land Transport Authority in March.
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The CCL managed 1.21 million train-km. This means the line had a fault resulting in a delay exceeding five minutes for every 1.21 million km travelled. This was a performance decline from 1.84 million train-km in 2022.
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Sim, S. (2024, April 29). Service on MRT Circle Line resumes after train fault causes delay for morning commuters. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/train-fault-on-circle-line-causes-delay-for-morning-commuters