Downtown Line affected by delays on Thursday morning

A train was stuck at Botanic Gardens station for 15 minutes after its doors failed to close. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - A door and signalling fault caused delays on the Downtown Line on Thursday (Dec 31) morning.

Commuters had taken to social media to vent their frustrations, with some Twitter users complaining that they were stuck at a station for 15 minutes after train doors failed to close.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, Downtown Line operator SBS Transit said the problem at Botanic Gardens station was due to a door fault that prevented the train from closing its doors automatically.

"This caused a delay of 15 minutes at 6.45am before regular service could resume," SBS Transit said.

Meanwhile, a signalling fault on another train caused service along the line to slow down at about 7.35am, with commuters experiencing an additional travelling time of 15 minutes.

Normal service eventually resumed at 8am, SBS Transit added.

In a blog post on Dec 21, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan had warned commuters of teething problems that could plague the new section of the Downtown Line (DTL2), which opened to the public on Dec 27.

Botanic Gardens station is part of the 12-station, 16.6km DTL2, which starts in Bukit Panjang and passes through the Bukit Timah corridor before connecting to the original section at Bugis station.

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