Track fault at Jurong East station causes delays on East-West Line from Joo Koon to Clementi: SMRT

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A screen displaying train statuses at Jurong East MRT, showing additional travel time on the East-West Line. ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
A train moving towards Jurong East MRT station. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Train service on a stretch of the East-West Line returned to normal on Monday (Jan 23) night after facing disruptions at peak hour for almost four hours.

The train disruption began at about 6.30pm and service returned to normal at about 10.15pm.

The Straits Times understands that a track circuit between Jurong East and Clementi has failed.

To alleviate the eastbound build-up of commuters, some westbound services are getting passengers to disembark at Queenstown. The trains then turn around to ferry eastbound passengers from Redhill station.

Train operator SMRT advised commuters at around 7.30pm to expect additional travel time of 25 minutes from Joo Koon towards Clementi, due to a track fault at Jurong East station.

Train service was still available, it said.

SMRT tweeted that there was a track fault from 6.34pm. The initial delay was estimated to be about 10 minutes, this became 20 minutes, then 25 minutes.

The delay was shaved to 20 minutes at 9.30pm, then down to 10 minutes at 10pm.

"Train service is running normally now," SMRT tweeted at 10.17pm.

Mr Patrick Nathan, SMRT's vice-president for Corporate Information and Communications, said: "A track fault occurred between Jurong East and Clementi MRT stations resulting in trains having to travel at a slower speed across the affected stretch for commuter safety. Commuters were advised to cater for additional travelling time. We apologise for the inconvenience caused this evening."

This delay comes less than a week after morning disruption on Jan 19 which caused MRT trains to crawl haltingly between Boon Lay and Clementi.

The delays from around 7.30am to 10am were traced to a track circuit glitch between Jurong East and Clementi stations.

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