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Jean Iau

Singapore is grappling with one of its longest railway disruptions as a service suspension caused by a train derailment is set to last over the weekend, with authorities aiming to resume operations on Monday.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Thursday night backtracked on a plan to partially restore services and run a shuttle train between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations every 20 minutes on Friday.
In a statement, the authority said this would mean slowing down the repairs on the damaged rail, as work could not be carried out while the shuttle service was in operation.
Operator SMRT was aiming to restore full service on Monday, and running the shuttle train could risk delaying full restoration by at least a few days, it added.
Local media reported that this was the second-longest rail disruption to date, affecting about 358,000 passengers on Wednesday, while another 516,000 were expected to be affected on Thursday.
Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, who was in Beijing to attend a forum, addressed the disruption in a video message posted to Facebook on Thursday afternoon.
“As the damage is very extensive, they [SMRT] need more time to complete the repairs and then after that to carry out tests and checks to ensure commuter safety before fully restoring train services,” Chee said.

On Wednesday, Chairman Seah Moon Ming and Chief Executive Ngien Hoon Ping said in a statement: “The incident was the result of an unforeseen issue during the withdrawal of an old train, where a defective train axle box on one of our first-generation trains dropped and caused the wheels of a bogie to come off the running rail and hit track equipment, including the third rail and point machines, leading to the power fault.”
A bogie refers to the undercarriage of a train.
The disruption affected nine stations on the line, one of the busiest in Singapore, and free replacement bus services have been running between the affected stations.
As of 10.30pm on Thursday, the outage between Buona Vista and Jurong East continued, making it more than 37 hours since the trains ran normally.
Christopher Tan, a retired veteran transport correspondent and an associate at the Singapore University of Social Sciences specialising in land transport, said the case was among the worst disruptions to an MRT service in the country to date. MRT, or mass rapid transit system, is the city state’s primary mode of rail travel.
The length of the current disruption had eclipsed previous incidents where collapsed cables in 2012 and a flooded tunnel in 2017 caused 12- and 14-hour delays, respectively, he noted.
In these previous incidents, transport operators received S$400,000 (US$311,000) and S$1.5 million in fines, respectively. Eight maintenance staff were also fired in the 2017 incident.
In November 2017 there was a five-day disruption to MRT services in the western end of Singapore after a collision caused by a signalling glitch, which left more than 30 people injured. About 100,000 commuters were reportedly affected then.
“They are fixing the damaged tracks and trackside equipment, but it’s too early to talk about the consequences,” Tan said.

Noting that operator SMRT was taking great pains to point out that the affected train was 35 years old, Tan said it was not unusual for metros around the world to use even older trains – as long as they were well maintained. “For instance, Hong Kong’s MTR is still operating some of its very first trains, which are 45 this year.”
In 2020, the East-West Line ridership was more than 500,000 people per day.
Frustrated commuters told This Week in Asia that their morning commutes on Thursday were further hampered by heavy rain.
Administrator Esther Lai, 30, called her journey between the affected stations from Jurong East to Kent Ridge “unpleasant” as crowds rushed to get on replacement bus services.
“It was packed, I had to squeeze to get in. It’s terrible that it’s the second disruption this month too,” said Lai, referring to delays on another line last week.
Kamala Subramaniam, a 44-year-old cleaner, said her commute to work from Clementi to Kaki Bukit, which would usually take an hour and a half, was likely to take more than two hours for now. Taking a taxi was out of the question for her as it would be too expensive.
“It’s frustrating because my journey is already quite far. Thankfully, my boss is understanding. He told me yesterday that I can come in late,” Subramaniam said.


On Wednesday night, the LTA said in a Facebook post: “LTA and SMRT engineers commenced recovery works since the afternoon after rains stopped, and will continue into the night. However, as the damage to the tracks is extensive, more time is required to do the necessary repairs and replacements.”
The disruption also came on the first day of the written papers for the national Primary School Leaving Examinations on Thursday.
Local media reported that students had been briefed on existing arrangements and exam candidates had been assured that they would not be penalised for being late due to train service disruptions.


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A barrier placed at Clementi MRT station following a major railway disruption, which has affected the East-West Line since Wednesday. Photo: Jean Iau

Free bridging bus services at Buona Vista MRT station in Singapore following a major railway disruption, which has affected the East-West Line since Wednesday. Photo: Jean Iau

A sign pointing to free bridging bus services at Buona Vista MRT station in Singapore following a major railway disruption, which has affected the East-West Line since Wednesday. Photo: Jean Iau

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Transport authorities backtrack on goal to partially restore services on Friday and run a regular shuttle train service


Transport authorities backtrack on goal to partially restore services on Friday and run a regular shuttle train service.


Transport and logistics