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Commuters along the East West Line (EWL) experienced delays on Wednesday (2 Jan) morning around 9am and again in the afternoon nearing 3pm, while the North East Line (NEL) train services will have early closure on Friday and Saturday (4 and 5 Jan).
The delay along the EWL started at about 9am without clear reasons; posts on social media platforms informed unclear station announcement said due to 'some emergency' activated at Boon Lay station, Eastbound train to Pasir Ris will be affected. There was no official announcement from SMRT.
Passenger's complains and information started on the Twitter platform not long after 9am:
My first #SMRT train ride of the year, the train stops at every other station with an excuse announced each time. I kid you not! First it was barrier door problems, then it was the train ahead is not moving, every few stops. Contemplating to fully switch to private car rides.
— Shazzharif (@Shazzharif) January 2, 2019
Train delay EWL towards Par Sir Ris. Happy New Year folks
— Gordon (@ABCDEFGORDON) January 2, 2019
On TATA SMRT Facebook page, Alan Chow also shared information about the EWL morning delay:
Alan Chow wrote at 9:26am: "Due to some emergency ' .... ' activated at Boon Lay stn East bound train to Pasir Ris will be affected (Not clearly announced)." He shared a photo:
There were no other information for a while and the train service seemed to have returned to normal after 11am judging from the tweet of Allen Kelly, mentioning the need for (station) escalators maintenance:
@SMRT_Singapore trains are running fine, I think you need to get your Rail Engineers to start maintaining your escalators! #dotheyeverwork #escalatorsthatarereallystairs
— Allen Kelly (@allenk1w1) January 2, 2019
But nearing 3pm another train disruption seemed to have occurred, as a tweet from CP Tay said the train stuck at station for 30 minutes:
First day back from japan & #SMRT train stuck at station for 30mins. #sametraindiffernetstandards
— CP Tay (@CP_Tay) January 2, 2019
This was supported by information posted on TATA SMRT Facebook platform, stating train fault near Jurong East as the cause:
Adiel Rusyaidi wrote at 14:45pm: "Station announcement: Due to a train fault near Jurong East, please expect an additional 10 mins travelling time from Lakeside to Clementi. My train heading towards the west ended at Clementi." He also posted a photo:
A.C. Yap shared a link from Land Transport Guru at 14:51pm; he wrote: "Update from Land Transport Guru on EWL train fault. No announcement from operator SMRT yet. ⚠️ East West Line - Train Fault 🚇 Lakeside - Clementi towards Pasir Ris 🕘 Additional 10 minutes travelling time due to Train Fault near Jurong East (Station announcement)."
Later updates on TATA SMRT Facebook informed that the EWL service has returned to normal since 4:30pm, while through the day SMRT kept silent.
Kitaro Sixonesixtwo wrote at 7:06pm: "Service already back to normal since 4.30pm."
Paul Lee wrote at 7:47pm: "Alan Chow service resumed since 4.30pm."
Meanwhile, in the afternoon SBS Transit tweeted that train services on NEL between NE12 Serangoon and NE17 Punggol will stop earlier at 11pm on 4 and 5 January, due to maintenance works. And because of that, the services between NE1 Harbour Front and NE12 Serangoon will operate at a longer frequency of about 9 minutes while the service hours on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT will be extended on the affected dates:
Due to maintenance works, train svcs on the NEL between NE12 Serangoon and NE17 Punggol will end earlier at around 11pm this Fri and Sat - Jan 4 & 5. Pls note that Shuttle Bus 21 will be in operation to serve the closed stations while Svc 325 will run until 12.50am.
— SBS Transit (@SBSTransit_Ltd) January 2, 2019
With the early closure of the NEL stations between Punggol & Serangoon, train svcs between NE1 HarbourFront and NE12 Serangoon will operate at a longer frequency of about 9 minutes while svc hours on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT will be extended on the affected dates.
— SBS Transit (@SBSTransit_Ltd) January 2, 2019