A massive train disruption took place this morning along the East West Line (EWL) due to a track point fault at Clementi, which started at about 7am and ended around 1.50pm in the afternoon. The disruption and confusion of free shuttle buses left passengers confused and angry, who then posted a barrage of posts and tweets on the social media platforms to voice their displease and to highlight the chaos ensued from the breakdown.
On TATA SMRT Facebook platform posts from commuters stuck at Queens Town and Jurong East have started since about 7am:
Renfred Wang wrote at 7:07am: “SMRT no announcement on EWL delay. Stuck at Queens Town towards Tuas for 10 mins now.”
CoLieen Lim posted a photo at 7:14am: “Situation at Jurong East station. 7:15am.”
WB LM wrote at 7:15am: “[EWL]: Due to a track point fault at Clementi, train service between Jurong East and Clementi will be delayed for 30mins. Free regular bus service is available between JurongEast and Queenstown.”
John Robert Lee wrote that the announcement warns train service between JE and Clementi would be delayed for 30 minutes:
John Robert Lee shared a post from MRT Singapore Service Information at 7:22am; he wrote: “Yesterday, you have PSD Failure at JE because of pax try to force open the faulty PSD. Today, you have track point failure between JE and Clementi. Don’t know what’s going on but… Service between JE and Clementi will be Delayed for 30 mins and free bus services operations are available between Boon Lay And Queenstown. Do seek alternative transport if you can!”
And other passengers also posted other information on the Facebook page:
Briggs Cudal wrote at 7:24am: “Green line train Pasir Ris until Queens Town only.”
Swee Thian Sim wrote at 7:43am: “No train service on East West line.”
Nur Azlinawaty said the additional travel time needed was not 30 minutes but 45 minutes for the passengers from both the Western and Eastern regions:
Nur Azlinawaty Abdul Rahman wrote at 8:09am: “Passengers on E-W Line should add 45 mins to their travel, not the supposed 30 mins. This applies not just for those in the West. The Easterners too.”
On the Twitter platform commuters also shared information and their disappointment over the train service disruption:
https://twitter.com/fv4rishh/status/1042188757640728576
https://twitter.com/bhuvyxo/status/1042189177591226368
At 7:10am and 7:14am SMRT tweeted its official announcements about the EWL train delay that would be for 30 minutes, free regular bus services were said to be available:
[EWL]: Due to a track point fault at #Clementi, train service btwn #JurongEast and #Clementi will be delayed for 30mins. Free regular bus service is available between #JurongEast and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 18, 2018
[EWL] UPDATE: Due to a track point fault at #Clementi, train service btwn #JurongEast and #Clementi will be delayed for 30mins. Free regular bus service is available between #BoonLay and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 18, 2018
But at 7:21am minerva tweeted that the trains at Tampines have been jammed for almost 30 minutes:
@SMRT_Singapore any updates on how the trains at tampines mrt have been jammed for almost half an hour
— minerva (@minerva90803491) September 18, 2018
Other commuters continued to ask questions and voice their complaints about the delay on Twitter:
What about the power failure at Jurong East towards Joo Koon?
— Wen Kai (@Wen_Kai_) September 18, 2018
Hello. I’m stuck in outram Park for 17min. Any bus?
— tf (@oink1010) September 18, 2018
Should be providing bus services to all the east-west bound stations. Everyone is stuck at the platform waiting.
— eskimo pie (@taesumism) September 18, 2018
@SMRT_Singapore the fault is affected the whole east west line. you should make proper informative announcement
— 0525 ♡ (@_srnsj) September 18, 2018
and now the train going towards pasir ris also not moving?? i can’t even travel to a station to change to another line for travel?? wat is this???? i’m only at simei station ok..
— GrisiaxLesus (@MN3027) September 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/agentm98/status/1042192923196964864
While SMRT kept tweeting announcement to update the passengers but the problems seemed to have gone from bad to worse, from 30 minutes of additional travel time at 8:15am to 40 minutes:
[EWL] UPDATE: Due to a track point fault at #Clementi, train service btwn #JurongEast and #Clementi will be delayed for 30mins. Free regular bus service and free bridging bus service are available between #BoonLay and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 18, 2018
[EWL] UPDATE: Our staff is rectifying the fault, train service on the EWL is available. However, please add 30 mins travelling time btwn #BoonLay and #Queenstown. Free regular bus and bridging bus svc are available btwn #BoonLay and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 18, 2018
[EWL] UPDATE: Our staff is rectifying the fault, train service on the EWL is available. However, please add 40 mins travelling time between #BoonLay and #Queenstown. Free regular bus and bridging bus svc are available between #BoonLay and #Queenstown.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 19, 2018
Passengers were confused and complained about the free bus services; some said that the ‘free’ bus service was a lie:
https://twitter.com/shula25K/status/1042199618300215296
https://twitter.com/sarahdonov/status/1042200161110224896
https://twitter.com/GraceTa04141272/status/1042201132209061888
https://twitter.com/prancingthrough/status/1042205313967915008
Where’s the shuttle bus at Buona Vista? There’s a pretty Long queue and we’ve been waiting for an hour.
— tricia 🌙 (@_gloomyybear_) September 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/harryadammitch/status/1042208655993581569
Q for shuttle bus is also very long. #smrt #ewldown pic.twitter.com/Dx5hdjnKD3
— P.Ti (@petikool) September 19, 2018
Free buses are a lie. We are still required to tap our cards and fare is still deducted. What sorcery is this?
— Jaslyn Koh (@Jaslynzxc) September 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/MasterPremanon/status/1042215448706609152
Syazana Lopez gave a solution to get the free bus service:
https://twitter.com/TheBlazerGirl/status/1042212272674729984
There were also confusions caused by the announcements and notifications given by the SMRT about the locations and delay times:
https://twitter.com/choomei_ong/status/1042200636693995520
https://twitter.com/kh2ouija/status/1042200814150807552
https://twitter.com/smurfvillesux/status/1042202781765910529
I think you need to be clearer than that. The train services on the east side is effectively down due to the congestion anyway. I've been stuck in the train in the east for 30 mins due to the track fault.
— bowN (@ElKiewAKAbowNz) September 19, 2018
SHAME ON YOU @SMRT_Singapore Pls report the actual facts!! Its more than an hour delay!! @LTAsg should heavily fine @SMRT_Singapore for this delay’
— Canvas of Tweets (@canvasoftweets) September 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/ShirLs_B/status/1042228692586397696
https://twitter.com/justgloww/status/1042229785391329280
And there were also many tweets from commuters asking whether they could ask for refund:
Tapped in to clementi mrt. Kena chased out because of train fault. Tapped out and $0.77 deducted. Hi @SMRT_Singapore, any chance of refund?
— விக்னேஷ்🧊🔥 (@JoeMuniyandi) September 18, 2018
Sure there is a refund. You can go to their website transitlink under the claims.. can write in. They will waive off. Ever kenna before and claim back
— TL (@Foodie_TL) September 18, 2018
Went to control station and refunded $0.75. So they keep the rest.
— Phyllis (@hammiedevil) September 18, 2018
Other passengers posted photos and information of the long delay:
https://twitter.com/ChaceMao/status/1042201376938323968
Scene at Jurong East MRT Station after SMRT announced an additional 30 mins travelling time between Clementi and Jurong East. @STcom @TODAYonline @zaobaosg @ST_LifeTweets pic.twitter.com/QVEGN5r4r6
— Brian (@brian_teo) September 19, 2018
Julia wrote that train doors closed while there were still spaces on the train and it left the Clementi Station before people could board :
https://twitter.com/LaiKhaing/status/1042215870892716032
The day almost reached 11 am already but the train disruptions were still not cleared:
So what is the new SMRT CEO saying now about not taking the car to work? https://t.co/tZBLEvv5EA
— zuckerman cedar lee (@mdzulkar9) September 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/LOVETTEMZAKI/status/1042243028155396096
smrt hit its personal best…walking speed mrt!!!!!! 😧😧😧😧
— bat (@batkdz) September 19, 2018
Yes smrt. You the best 🤣 keep stopping like that, I’ll reach work tmrw morning 😑😡
— 💋 Riri (@Wazzyx07) September 19, 2018
It was only till 1.50pm that the train services have been said to be resumed back to normal operations.
[EWL] CLEARED: Train services have resumed. Free regular & bridging bus services have ended.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) September 19, 2018