MRT service between Woodlands North and Bayshore on Thomson-East Coast Line resumes after two-hour delay
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Sherlyn Sim and Koh Ming Lun
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SINGAPORE – Train service between Woodlands North and Bayshore stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) resumed after a two-hour disruption on the morning of Sept 17, SMRT said.
The transport operator said in a post at 8.54am that train service on the 27-station stretch had resumed, and that free regular bus and bridging bus services had ended.
When The Straits Times arrived at Woodlands station at about 9am, train service was running normally, with trains coming at six-minute intervals.
In an earlier post at 8.38am, SMRT said that train service was resuming progressively and that free regular and bridging bus services were still available.
That came eight minutes after it said there was no train service at the affected stations to facilitate “train service recovery” due to a signal fault.
SMRT Trains president Lam Sheau Kai said in a Facebook post at 9am that train service had been suspended for about 30 minutes to reset the system. He apologised for the inconvenience caused to commuters.
In an earlier post on X and Facebook at 7.29am, SMRT advised commuters to allow for an additional 15 minutes of travelling time between Woodlands North and Bayshore stations in both directions.
Commuters at Springleaf station during the two-hour disruption.
PHOTO: ST READER
In an update at 7.55am, SMRT said free regular bus services between the affected stations were available.
SMRT added in an update at 8.14am that its engineers were working to recover train services and urged commuters heading towards the city centre to take the North-South Line, Circle Line or Downtown Line.
It also encouraged affected commuters to download an e-Travel Chit as proof of their travel at /
A commuter, who wanted to be known only as Ms Kok, said she was heading from Woodlands South to Caldecott at around 7.10am when the train she was in stopped between Woodlands South and Springleaf stations for about an hour.
She told ST she was worried as she was rushing to reach her workplace by 8am, and said it was very hot inside the packed train.
“Everyone was upset because there was a train announcement for a delay of 15 minutes, but the train was not moving to any stop for a much longer time,” said the 32-year-old human resource executive.
The train she was in moved one stop to Springleaf station by 8.15am, where she was able to catch a free regular bus to work.
Another commuter, who wanted to be known only as Ms Asher, said she was travelling from Woodlands to Caldecott at 8am when she encountered crowds at the platform.
Although bridging bus services were available, she decided to wait for the TEL service to resume, as there were large crowds of people boarding the buses.
Meanwhile, some commuters avoided the TEL during their morning commute.
Mr Alvin Lee, a manager in healthcare operations, was making his way from Bartley to Woodlands South when he heard about the disruption.
Instead of taking the TEL, the 34-year-old took the Circle Line and North-South Line to reach Woodlands.
While he was relieved that train services had resumed, he felt more could be done in how SMRT reported train delays.
“While disruption is unavoidable, the frequency of updates by SMRT on train disruptions can be improved,” he said.
This was the second train disruption in less than 12 hours, after service on six stations on the East-West Line was affected
