The MRT disruption on Wednesday (25 Sept) left many commuters in western Singapore with little choice but to rely on bridging bus services.
One student, however, decided to take matters into his own hands by walking the remainder of his journey.
In a viral TikTok video, 19-year-old Martin Ruzicka recounted how, faced with overwhelming crowds and delays, he spent nearly three hours walking from Buona Vista to Boon Lay.
As of now, the teen’s TikTok video has accumulated more than 250,000 views.
Speaking to MS News, Martin explained that he was heading to NTU after a full-day shoot when he was met with the predicament at Buona Vista MRT station around 7pm.
Image courtesy of Martin
A power fault had disrupted services between Buona Vista and Jurong East.
As a result, Martin, along with an estimated 700 other commuters, found himself waiting in an impossibly long queue for shuttle buses.
He likened the overwhelming crowd to that of a “concert” or “festival” — except the atmosphere was far from celebratory.
Image courtesy of Martin
After about 20 minutes of waiting with no clear end in sight, Martin checked the cost of a Grab ride to his destination.
To his horror, he was quoted nearly S$50 for the ride — far beyond what he was willing to pay.
Source: @martinruzi on TikTok
In the end, the NTU student made the tough call to walk to Boon Lay Station, turning what should have been a simple commute into a gruelling workout.
Recounting his journey, Martin said he spent the majority of the route following the MRT tracks.
Source: @martinruzi on TikTok
As he walked, he passed several East-West Line stations — Dover, Clementi, Jurong East, Chinese Garden, and Lakeside — before finally arriving at Boon Lay MRT around 10pm.
Although it was dark, Martin navigated easily with the help of Google Maps.
However, he did encounter obstacles at Dover and Clementi stations, where construction works blocked parts of the path.
After three long hours of walking, he completed the final leg of his journey by bus to NTU.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Martin has had a “positive” view of Singapore’s public transport system since his first visit in June.
He even compared it to the network in Prague, his hometown, calling both the best he had ever used.
Despite what happened, Martin said his initial impression of Singapore’s public transport system still stands as such incidents are inevitable from time to time, stating:
Out of all my public transport journeys here in Singapore, this was the only one that failed. That’s still a remarkable statistic compared to what I’ve experienced elsewhere.
Martin also mentioned his experience living in London, where he claims similar disruptions happen on a weekly or monthly basis for various reasons.
Also read: No MRT service from Jurong East to Buona Vista on 26 Sept, engineers working throughout the day
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Featured image adapted from @martinruzi on TikTok.
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