Circle Line disrupted for almost 3 hours due to signal faults
Photo: Reuters
Commuters travelling on the Circle Line during the morning rush hour on Wednesday (2 November) were fuming after the line was hit by disruptions lasting almost three hours.
According to operator SMRT, the Circle Line “encountered intermittent signal interference” that caused one train to stall between the Marymount and Botanic Gardens station. The glitch affected operations throughout the whole line and trains had to travel at a slower speed.
The transport operator first posted on its Twitter account at 7:37 am that there would be an additional travelling time of 10 minutes between Pasir Panjang and one North stations due to a signal fault.
Two minutes later, SMRT tweeted that the fault was resolved, only to announce at 8:04 am that trains are moving slower, again due to a signal fault. At 8:16 am, they said that an additional 20 minutes of travelling time should be factored in for those travelling on the Circle Line.
At 9:06 am, SMRT gave an update, saying there was no train service between Botanic Gardens and Marymount stations. This later extended to Serangoon station, it said at 9:32 am.
Full train service resumed at 10:27 am, while free bus services ceased at 11:30 am.
One commuter who was affected told Yahoo Singapore that SMRT could have handled its communications about the disruptions better.
“I was (stuck) in the train for two hours and announcements were made one hour after delays started,” said 27-year-old marketing manager Amanda Cheok.
“I got tired and frustrated after standing in the crowded train and it got more irritable because I didn’t know what was going on.”
Commuters took to SMRT’s Facebook page to express their frustration about the delays.
Among them was Sunita Nesan, who claimed that the “updates weren’t timely for commuters” and ground staff had no such information on hand for commuters.
Wednesday’s disruptions came two months after the Circle Line experienced delays for five consecutive days in September and another disruption lasting three hours later that month.
