Faulty engineering vehicle causes delays on North-South and East-West MRT lines
A faulty engineering vehicle at Bishan Depot caused delays on Singapore’s North-South and East-West MRT lines on 7 February. Commuters faced waiting times of up to five minutes. SMRT provided free bus services and redirected trains from other depots to ease disruptions.
Commuters on Singapore’s North-South and East-West MRT lines faced delays on the morning of 7 February due to a faulty engineering vehicle at Bishan Depot.
The disruption, which began at 5.15am, was caused by an engineering vehicle that broke down while returning to the depot after overnight maintenance works, SMRT said in a Facebook post at 7am.
The breakdown at one of the depot’s crossings prevented trains scheduled to operate on the North-South Line from leaving the depot. SMRT deployed engineers to the site to recover the vehicle and minimise disruptions to morning services.
To address the situation, SMRT redirected more trains from other depots on the East-West Line to support operations on the North-South Line.
As a result, waiting times between trains on both lines increased. In an updated post at 7.55am, SMRT clarified that the waiting time on the North-South and East-West MRT lines had temporarily increased to about 3.5 minutes, up from the usual two minutes during peak hours.
Earlier, at 5.52am, SMRT had initially advised commuters to add 20 minutes to their travelling time. This was later revised to 10 minutes and further reduced to five minutes as recovery efforts progressed. Free regular bus and bridging bus services were made available between Bishan and Woodlands MRT stations.
SMRT also encouraged commuters to take alternate routes using the Thomson-East Coast Line and the Circle Line.
The incident follows a similar disruption on 10 January when commuters travelling between Marina South Pier and Bishan MRT stations experienced delays during the evening peak hour. The disruption was caused by a northbound train that stalled near Orchard station at 5.40pm, affecting journeys between key stations on the North-South Line.
SMRT said in its 7.55am update that its engineers were working hard to recover the faulty vehicle. "More trains from other depots have been redirected from the East-West Line to support operations on the North-South Line," it added.
By 7.27am, waiting times between trains on the affected lines had been reduced to five minutes, with efforts continuing to restore normal service. SMRT apologised for the inconvenience and assured commuters that its staff were actively managing the situation to ensure minimal disruption.
