MRT trips between Choa Chu Kang and Jurong East stations extended to 20 mins this morning due to a track fault

The MRT trips between Choa Chu Kang MRT and Jurong East MRT stations were extended to 20 minutes this morning (13 February) due to a track fault along the North-South line.

At 9.24 am, SMRT Corporation announced on Twitter about the delay and said the operator will provide free regular buses between both stations.

Not long after, SMRT Corporation posted another tweet to announce that the track fault had been cleared and the train service has resumed. The free regular buses ended and it also apologized for the delay.

However, a commuter responded to the tweet and said he did not notice any free bus being provided at Bukit Gombak station and ended up using the MRT instead.

@SMRT_Singapore I didn’t see any free bus provided at bukit gombak station. At last I took mrt. Please Don’t lie

— chEEwEi (@anybody17373117) February 13, 2020

Another commuter commented that there was no staff to guide the commuters and the full fare was deducted for traveling from Bukit Gombak to Jurong East station. 

was made to alight from the train and switch to bus services but no staff was there to guide the mass of commuters. was told afterwards that train services had resumed but the full fare was deducted for traveling from bukit gombak to jurong east?? what even is this??

— 💦💦 (@pupguk) February 13, 2020

Some commuters also voiced out their frustration on Twitter about the instructions given by SMRT and questioned the availability of the free buses.

Went down the platform to exit but the staff made us U Turn to the platform and now the train isn't coming. So frustrating the instructions given. Got free bus anot?

— benny loy (@greybear) February 13, 2020

I was on 2 trains and both trains move from gombak stn to batok and back to gombak. No announcement but the default "track fault". What is going on???

— Yeewf (@Yeewf1) February 13, 2020

where is the bus

— chEEwEi (@anybody17373117) February 13, 2020

Another disrupted MRT trip that was caused by a track fault happened on 19 July 2019, when the train service on the North East line experienced a delay for about two hours due to a track fault at HarbourFront MRT station, The Straits Times reported.

On 31 May 2019, the North-South line also experienced a short delay at around 8 am in the morning due to a track fault at Ang Mo Kio which had caused the delays in the Southbound service towards Marina South Pier.   

However, on 2 January, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan indicated 2019 as a “very good year” for the MRT and “2020 will be better”. 

The Minister announced the renewal programme for the North-South and East-West MRT lines will cost more than S$2.5 billion which includes a replacement of the power supply system, track circuits, and first-generation trains. 

According to the Minister, the first phase of the renewal involved replacing the rail sleepers, third rail and signalling systems of the two lines which are more than 30 years old, having been opened in 1987.

He also announced that the second phase of the programme was already underway. The renewal programme started in 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2024.