Consecutive breakdowns on Wednesday mar efforts to regain trust in public transportation

On Wednesday, two train faults occurred along East-West Line and North-East Line, respectively in the afternoon and evening peak period.

The afternoon breakdown of East-West Line was between Tampines and Pasir Ris MRT stations and was said to be caused by track fault.

[EWL] Due to a track fault at #PasirRis, there is no train service between #Tampines and #PasirRis on both bound for 20 minutes.

— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) October 28, 2015

[EWL] UPDATE: Train service between #Tampines and #PasirRis has resumed. Trains will be travelling at slower speed due to an earlier fault.

— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) October 28, 2015

The evening breakdown of North-South Line was between Ang Mo Kio and Marina Bay stations and also said to be caused by a track fault at Braddell MRT station.

[EWL] UPDATE: Due to an earlier track fault, estimate additional 10 minutes travelling time between #Tampines and #PasirRis on both bound.

— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) October 28, 2015

[NSL] Train service has resumed. Trains are travelling at a slower speed due to an earlier train fault. Free bus service is still available.

— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) October 28, 2015

Free bus services were activated between affected stations in both incidents.

While SMRT announced that train services are back to normal, commuters still report delays in train service on social media, questioning if the service is indeed totally restored at the point of announcement.

The bloody train is stuck one stop away from my destination. STOP SCREWING WITH ME SMRT

— 不器用 '15 @赤月 (@estreasays) October 28, 2015

Also commuters also stated that the disruption of train service occurred before the time of announcement,

@SMRT_Singapore is this inclusive of the 20mins that we have already waited before this announcement?

— Koh Jia Wei (@kohjiawei) October 28, 2015

Wednesday’s disruption of service follows a series of train disruption along EWL and NEL for the past two months. (see more here)

• 22 Sep – Train fault disrupted North-South Line service between Yishun and Jurong East
• 27 Sep – Train fault disrupted North-South Line service between Bukit Gombak and Jurong East
• 30 Sep – Track fault disrupted East-West Line service between Tanah Merah and Changi Airport
• 5 Oct – Train fault disrupted East-West Line service between Pioneer and Pasir Ris
• 9 Oct – Train fault disrupted East-West Line service between Outram Park and Jurong East
• 15 Oct – Train fault disrupted East-West Line service between Clementi and Queenstown
• 27 Oct – Train fault disrupted North-South Line service between Marina Bay and Ang Mo Kio
• 27 Oct – Train fault disrupted North-South Line service towards Jurong East
• 28 Oct – Track fault disrupted East-West Line service between Tampines and Pasir Ris
• 28 Oct – Train fault disrupted North-South Line service between Ang Mo Kio and Marina South Pier

So far, the transport ministry nor the minister has commented on the consecutive breakdowns at the train lines operated by SMRT.