First day of Circle Line service adjustments: Some confusion but there was also helpful staff guidance

SINGAPORE – Many passengers who faced longer waiting times on the first day of

service adjustments on the Circle Line (CCL)

seemed confused, but were able to continue their journeys with the timely guidance from ground staff.

When The Straits Times visited Paya Lebar station from 7.45am to 8.30am on Jan 17, passenger flow was smooth, although longer waiting intervals of 10 minutes for each train heading towards Mountbatten led to small groups of eight to 10 gathering at each door.

There were at least 10 crowd marshals armed with light batons and loudspeakers on each CCL platform at Paya Lebar and Mountbatten stations. They were seen actively approaching passengers to guide them.

The shuttle trains running on a single platform between Mountbatten, Dakota and Paya Lebar stations arrived every 8½ to 9½ minutes.

While some passengers were already aware of the service adjustments, they were still confused about the trains they had to take, as the shuttle train required them to disembark at either Paya Lebar or Mountbatten stations before continuing their journey on the CCL.

Ms Karen Siau, 63, knew of the service adjustments beforehand because of the early installation of large banners at the station, and planned to leave her home in Eunos 10 minutes earlier to account for the longer waiting time.

But the sales executive said she had to clarify her travel route with the ground staff, as it was the first time she was travelling this route following the service adjustments.

Ms Siau, whose workplace is in Dakota, feels that the longer train interval of 10 minutes is “acceptable” – even during weekday peak hours when she has to grapple with heavier crowds.

She added that she will consider taking the shuttle bus services since they are “quite convenient”, although she prefers taking the MRT since she does not need to walk further to the bus stop.

On Jan 17, service adjustments began on the CCL, leading to delays of up to 30 minutes for passengers during peak hours. These changes will last until April 19, as train frequencies will be reduced across the entire line throughout this period.

During these three months, shuttle trains will run on a single platform at 10-minute intervals – longer than the current three-minute intervals – connecting Mountbatten, Dakota and Paya Lebar stations.

There will be a longer wait of 10 minutes between trains from Mountbatten towards Dhoby Ghaut or Marina Bay stations, up from six minutes now.

This is to facilitate

tunnel strengthening works

along a 450m stretch of tunnels connecting Mountbatten, Dakota and Paya Lebar stations that has shown some signs of deterioration, such as water leaks.

Some passengers, such as Mr Ary Leet, 18, still needed some time to get used to the longer commute from his home in Marsiling to his school near Mountbatten station.

The tertiary student, who was running late for an 8.15am briefing in school, had no choice but to wait for the shuttle train at Paya Lebar station at around 8.05am to get to Mountbatten station.

He had mistakenly thought the service adjustments would start only on Jan 19.

Mr Leet said he would try to avoid taking the CCL over the next three months and consider other alternatives via the East-West Line and bus transfers.

For Mr Han Shah, 22, his daily commute from his home in Sembawang to his workplace near Mountbatten will take around two hours, up from the current duration of 1½ hours.

The firefighter knew about the service adjustments beforehand and had left his home 15 minutes earlier, but the shuttle train heading towards Mountbatten at Paya Lebar station took longer than expected to arrive, which meant he was late for work.

Mr Han said he was dreading the longer commute for the next three months, adding that he would not take the alternative shuttle bus services as it would require a 25-minute walk from the bus stop to his workplace.

“Even if it’s more crowded during weekday peak hours, there’s nothing I can do about it... It is what it is,” he said.

Another passenger, who declined to be named, did not know that the shuttle bus services were not available during the weekends, and found the signs “misleading”.

He was late for his appointment, as he had made his way to the bus stop and realised something was amiss when no one else was queueing for the shuttle bus service.

Besides rolling out shuttle bus services during peak hours on weekdays, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has introduced a new crowd status tool (

https://go.gov.sg/ccl-crowd-status

) to help commuters affected by the service adjustments decide how to plan their journeys.

It added that this tool will update with images of the crowds every 10 to 15 minutes, giving passengers an idea of how busy stations are.

According to ST’s checks, this tool is available only on weekdays from 7am to 9am for the Serangoon station, from Jan 19 onwards.

LTA encourages commuters to check the crowd situation before heading down to the station on weekday mornings.

This is among the measures the authority will be pushing out to ease peak-hour congestion at several train interchange stations, which are expected to be crowded.

When asked if this tool will be used in the longer term, LTA said it, together with operator SMRT, will continue to monitor and refine measures accordingly over the train service adjustment period.

Inside the tunnels, engineering teams from LTA and SMRT began using a robotic arm – customised to CCL tunnel dimensions – to install steel reinforcement plates along the walls on the night of Jan 16. Each tunnel ring will be fitted with six steel plates.

The installation process, involving steel plates that weigh up to 800kg each, requires millimetre-level precision to ensure “optimal structural reinforcement”, said LTA.