Peak-hour East-West train services disrupted for 2½ hours
Train services on the East-West Line were disrupted yesterday morning.
A track fault at Eunos caused westbound train services to be delayed during the morning peak hours.
Services resumed at 9.55am, more than 2½ hours after they were disrupted.
SMRT had advised commuters to add 10 minutes' travel time from Tanah Merah towards Joo Koon station along the East-West Line via several tweets from 7.14am.
Only services for one direction were affected.
Separately, a fault near Bugis station was detected at 5.33am. A traction power fault stopped trains from plying between Outram Park and Aljunied stations in both directions. Services on this stretch resumed 10 minutes later, according to an SMRT tweet.
SMRT made available free regular bus and bridging bus services between the stations affected by the fault near Bugis.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, Ms Margaret Teo, SMRT's head of corporate marketing and communications, said the faults near Bugis and Eunos stations were unrelated.
Our engineers managed to rectify the fault before the start of service, and train services began on time.Ms Margaret Teo, SMRT's head of corporate marketing and communications
She said the traction power fault near Bugis station happened during pre-dawn maintenance.
"Our engineers managed to rectify the fault before the start of service and train services began on time," she said.
She added that the Eunos disruption was caused by a track circuit fault which necessitated "all westbound trains to travel at a slower speed over a stretch from Kembangan to Eunos for passenger safety".
Engineers have rectified the fault. SMRT apologised for the inconvenience caused to affected passengers.
A track fault had also occurred on the East-West Line on Thursday at 7.29pm.
Yesterday morning, marketing executive Grace Koh said she received an app notification about the East-West Line train delay from the Land Transport Authority when she was leaving her home in Tampines. She decided to take a taxi to work instead.
"Last Wednesday, I already had my journey delayed by 20 minutes due to a signalling fault at Aljunied MRT station on the East-West Line.
"Though the app said it was a 10-minute delay this time, I decided not to risk it," said the 28-year-old.
"I will be checking my phone for such alerts more frequently in future to decide whether to take public transport or not."
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