North-South Line experienced track fault causing slower train service for 3 hours

This morning (30 August) at around 6.08 am, SMRT tweeted that its North-South Line (NSL) had no train service from the YewTee to Bukit Gombak MRT stations due to a track fault.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770382760225615872

Around 20 minutes later, it said that the service had resume and free bus service is still available.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770386360075186176

Then it said that the trains are moving at a slower speed between Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Gombak.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770389579715190785

Around 7 am, it said that the trains would be travelling at slower speed and it provided free regular bus between YewTee and JurongEast.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770395189445668868

About an hour later, it said that the fault had cleared but the stations are still crowded. It said that the trains would need 15 minutes additional travel time between Woodlands and Jurong.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770407574743023617

At around 7.38, it tweeted that the trains needed longer additional travel time, 20 minutes longer. Free bus were still available.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770420508365959168

The train service resumed at around 9 am and the free regular bus had ceased.

https://twitter.com/SMRT_Singapore/status/770434881922867200

The vice-president of corporate information and communication Patrick Nathan said that the delays were caused by a fault train. It could be traced back to train signalling equipment near Choa Chu Kang MRT Station.

"For the safety of passengers, trains had to be manually driven at 18kmh over the affected stretch. The fault was cleared and regular train services resumed at 9.10 am," he said.

He also stated that SMRT is carrying out investigations to find out the cause of the fault.

Netizens were outraged about the delay. One even complained that the free shuttle bus actually were not provided.

https://twitter.com/kekasih82/status/770399265105391616

https://twitter.com/richardjang/status/770407377170411520

https://twitter.com/richardjang/status/770411498250182656

https://twitter.com/sunilraisg/status/770411522103226368

https://twitter.com/kentlimx/status/770412349161299968

https://twitter.com/kentlimx/status/770412349161299968

https://twitter.com/Lov3N3ko/status/770416913390252032

https://twitter.com/sgananthan/status/770418554755649536

https://twitter.com/sgananthan/status/770419034294669312

https://twitter.com/WeiQxxN/status/770419131162042368

https://twitter.com/Rachelbites/status/770419542694645761

https://twitter.com/qfqfqf/status/770419313828167680

https://twitter.com/AdLim7/status/770422158711398401

https://twitter.com/sephblue/status/770425818484846593

Passengers of Circle Line also complained as this is the second day in a row for such delays to happen. However, no statement made by SMRT regarding the delay on this line.

https://twitter.com/aikloongg/status/770401424530247680

https://twitter.com/DianaTeixeiraG/status/770420218279530497

https://twitter.com/snowb3rry/status/770420678159839232

https://twitter.com/lynncharis/status/770422597158772737

https://twitter.com/opheliap/status/770433086140010496

Just yesterday (29 August), SMRT said that the Circle Line was delayed due to intermittent signalling causing the train to travel longer.