49% of Singaporeans polled said that EWL disruptions severely affected their daily routines
The East-West line (EWL) train disruptions that started last Wednesday (25 Sept) caused a slew of inconveniences for many Singaporeans.
A train had developed a fault near Clementi station at approximately 9am that day, before damaging the tracks on its way back to Ulu Pandan depot.
The timing could not be any worse for commuters — with many rendered helpless at train stations during the morning peak hours.
Source: Singapore Road Accident on Facebook
Services between Jurong East and Buona Vista only resumed on Tuesday (1 Oct) after six full days of repairs and stress testing, causing many residents to seek alternative — and sometimes, slower — travel routes in the meantime.
While many accepted this reality and were thankful to the workers repairing the damage, west-side dwellers had been biting their nails in anticipation of an announcement that train services had been reinstated to resume their daily routines.
MS News speaks to some Singaporeans whose lives were interrupted by the breakdown.
Heavy reliance on EWL for those commuting to the west side of Singapore
In a poll by Answers.sg, over two-thirds of 1,571 respondents said that they were affected by recent disruptions along the EWL.
Out of which, 49% said that their daily routines had been severely disrupted.
Cheryl Lim, 21, told MS News that the power fault along the affected train stations had greatly affected her commute to university.
On a normal day, Cheryl only has to travel six stops from her Tiong Bahru apartment to Dover.
The train ride, which comes to about under twelve minutes, facilitates her journey from the central to the west of Singapore.
However, the train disruptions had rendered her route unusable for nearly a week.
As a result, the time she took to commute quadrupled overnight as she had to take a bus to school instead.
Cheryl also added that she was “very emotional” after EWL services had been reinstated, as she can resume her short daily commute to school.
For many tertiary students in Singapore such as Cheryl, the EWL is the most convenient way to get to campus.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), for example, are both located in the west side of the island.
Hence, many students living off-campus had to resort to longer alternative routes during the period of disruption.
Regions in the far west harder-hit by EWL disruptions
Residents of certain neighbourhoods were also inconvenienced slightly more than others. To be precise, the Boon Lay and Jurong West regions.
Speaking to MS News, Alice Chen, 22, shared that the Pioneer EWL MRT is the “only convenient” mode of public transportation out of the Jurong West neighbourhood.
“I have to use the EWL to reach my workplace or basically anywhere in Singapore except my neighbourhood’s malls,” she said.
Source: streetdirectory
Due to the train disruptions, Alice had to scour for much longer and tiresome alternative routes to get to her job, such as boarding three buses to work instead.
“I feel rather annoyed by the train disruptions,” she lamented. However, she also noted that such occurrences cannot be helped.
“Life is just like that sometimes,” said the 25-year-old professional working in content creation.
Student Fiona Lee, 22, echoed Alice’s thoughts on the matter.
As a Boon Lay resident, Fiona also has limited train options apart from Boon Lay MRT.
Having to inconvenience her parents to drop her off at Harbourfront MRT before embarking on the North-East line to school, Fiona hopes that train services will run smoothly in the future.
Alternative routes packed as people scramble to board buses
For student Easan Saravan, there was also the problem of crowded buses which he had to resort to due to the train disruptions.
Easan, 21, lives only a stone’s throw away from Clementi MRT station.
Due to the prime location of his house, Easan had become accustomed to swift and convenient journeys throughout Singapore.
Image courtesy of Clarence Tan
However, for the past week, he had to switch between buses and different MRT lines to travel to his Dhoby Ghaut destination, where his university is located.
“Many people had also taken to use the alternative routes that I utilise, resulting in packed buses,” he shared.
“I will reach home much later as a result as it requires numerous buses for me to get a place on board due to the lack of space.”
Easan is not alone in his problems, with his classmates also experiencing similar issues.
“I have friends who live in Boon Lay and Pioneer which rely heavily on the EWL. They thus have to wake up a lot earlier than usual to get to university,” he said.
Despite the trouble, Easan remains “grateful” to have alternative routes which are still relatively convenient, albeit the longer commute.
Measures to ease the pain of commuters during the EWL disruptions
Various measures had been put in place to ease commuters’ experience during the EWL disruption.
Free bridging bus services, for example, facilitated travel between the affected regions.
Source: Land Transport Guru
The bridging buses ran between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations. In this way, commuters could skip past the affected stations with ease.
Additionally, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) shared useful free travel alternatives on its social media platforms for Singaporeans to refer to.
Source: LTA on Facebook
Taxi operator Strides Premier also provided free taxi services for PSLE students seeking transport to examination venues. These were offered at affected MRT stations.
Commuters rejoice upon continuation of EWL services
After a gruelling week of undoubtedly longer travelling times for affected commuters, the EWL resumed services on Tuesday (1 Oct).
Despite slower westbound trains due to safety precautions, commuters were still relieved that the line, which holds ample significance, is up and running again.
Source: Facebook
Many users also showed their appreciation towards SMRT and LTA staff who had worked tirelessly to reinstate train services.
As concisely summarised by one netizen, “Affected commuters may heave a sigh of relief, after days of inconvenience”.
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Featured image adapted from @young.isy on TikTok and MS News.
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