Circle Line service affected twice by signalling system fault
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Commuters at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station on Friday night.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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SINGAPORE - Train service in the downtown section of the Circle Line was affected twice on Friday night by a signalling system fault, delaying trips for commuters at stations between Marina Bay/Dhoby Ghaut and Mountbatten.
The first incident happened at 8.40pm and the problem was rectified by 9.10pm but the fault reocurred at 10pm, transport operator SMRT said on Facebook.
In the first incident, it informed passengers of an additional travelling time of 30 minutes between the Dhoby Ghaut/Marina Bay and Paya Lebar stations in the first of a series of tweets at 8.57pm. Free regular bus services were offered between these stations.
In the second incident, besides adding 30 minutes of travel time between the Dhoby Ghaut and Esplanade stations, Marina Bay and Bayfront stations, and Mountbatten and Paya Lebar stations, there was no train service between the Esplanade/Bayfront and Mountbatten stations, SMRT tweeted at 11.26pm.
“Please use alternative means of transport to continue your journey,” it added. “We are sorry to have affected your Friday evening commute.”
SMRT said their engineers are on site to investigate and rectify the fault.
One Facebook user Jon Poh said he waited for a shuttle bus but there was none in sight.
“You had two hours to activate. Unacceptable,” he said, adding that MRT ground staff members had to manually open the train door when the train arrived at the Stadium stop.
In an update at around 1.20am, SMRT said circle line train services had ended for the day but engineers were still on site and would be working through the night to examine and rectify the failure of signalling cards.
Normal train services between Marina Bay/ Dhoby Ghaut and Mountbatten resumed at 5.20am.
