SINGAPORE: A track fault near Clementi MRT station that caused delays along the East-West Line (EWL) on Wednesday (Sep 19) was due to a problem with the switch mechanism, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary.
More than five hours after SMRT first tweeted about the fault, engineers were still trying to fix the problem.
Advertisement"Train services on the EWL are available. However, please add 30 mins train travel time between #BoonLay and #Queenstown," the transport operator tweeted at about 12.30pm.
It said an hour later that the fault has been rectified.
[EWL] UPDATE: Our engineers are still rectifying the fault, train services on the EWL are available. However, please add 30 mins train travel time between #BoonLay and #Queenstown. Free regular and bridging bus services are available between #BoonLay and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 19, 2018
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 19, 2018
[EWL] UPDATE: The fault has been rectified. Trains are progressively returning to normal speed. Do continue to add 15 mins train travel time between #BoonLay and #Queenstown. Free regular and bridging bus services are available between #BoonLay and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 19, 2018
AdvertisementAdvertisementPhotos showed large crowds at the affected MRT stations during the morning rush hour, and commuters were advised to use the North-South Line via Woodlands and Ang Mo Kio to get to the city instead.— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 19, 2018
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of an engagement exercise for the next land transport master plan, Dr Puthucheary, said: “We’ve identified where the problem is, it's with the switch mechanism.
“We could have taken a decision to stop services and allow (authorities) to concentrate just on repairing the problem, but that would have been a very big impact on the commuter experience. So the decision we took now allow trains to pass (but it's) slowing down the commute."
Dr Puthucheary added that slowing down the movement of trains - rather than stopping them - was “on balance better” for commuters.
But he emphasised that both SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) needed “a little time to ascertain exactly what the problem is with the switch mechanism”.
“SMRT and LTA engineers are on the ground and I expect this will be resolved in a matter of hours,” he added.
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