North-South Line disruption affects six stations on 14 Sept
SMRT Trains President Lam Sheau Kai has apologised after a 40-minute disruption on the North-South Line (NSL) on Sunday (14 Sept).
In a Facebook post by the public transport operator that afternoon, he said SMRT Trains detected a train fault between Newton and Ang Mo Kio stations in the direction towards Jurong East.
Source: SMRT on Facebook
Disruption adds 25 minutes extra travel time on North-South Line
SMRT first announced the delay at 11.44am, advising commuters to add 25 minutes of travel time between the six stations.
At 11:51 a.m., SMRT Trains announced that it would provide free regular bus services between Newton and Ang Mo Kio during the disruption.
The organisation also advised passengers to take the Thomson-East Coast Line at Orchard or the Downtown Line at Newton instead.
Train seen pushing another at Ang Mo Kio MRT Station
A photo posted on Reddit showed one train apparently pushing another one at Ang Mo Kio MRT Station during the breakdown.
Source: Reddit
A netizen explained that “12-car push out” was being conducted.
This pushout involved using an empty train to push a stalled one after passengers on board were evacuated.
Train taken out of service after commuters disembarked
Mr Lau said that when SMRT detected the train fault at 11.35am, it immediately deployed staff to rectify it.
SMRT took the affected train out of service after commuters on board had safely disembarked, he noted, adding:
We apologise for the delay and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Regular train services resumed from 12.20pm, he said.
2nd North-South Line disruption this month
The latest disruption is the second to strike the NSL this month.
On 2 Sept, train service on a five-station stretch from Yishun to Woodlands was disrupted for about 45 minutes in the direction towards Marina South Pier.
Source: SMRT on Facebook
SMRT advised commuters to expect an additional 25 minutes of travelling time at 8:22 pm that evening, with regular service resuming at 8:58 pm.
On Friday (13 Sept), the entire Punggol LRT went down for about three hours during the morning peak hour — its third disruption in more than one month.
Also read: MRT reliability drops to 5-year low, 3 out of 5 lines show decline
MRT reliability drops to 5-year low, 3 out of 5 lines show decline
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Featured image adapted from SMRT on Facebook and Reddit.
