Train faults hit North-South Line and Circle Line

Commuters travelling via the North-South Line (NSL) and Circle Line (CCL) experienced train faults and delays on Monday morning.

Around 5,570 passengers were affected by the disruption on the southbound service.

In a statement, SMRT said that a southbound train had experienced a train fault between Ang Mo Kio and Bishan MRT station at 10:27am.

Passengers were detrained at Bishan station for the train to be withdrawn from service. Announcements were also made in all stations and on affected trains to inform passengers of the delay.

To maintain southbound train service, some northbound trains were turned around at Toa Payoh station. Southbound train services resumed at 11:10am.

A northbound train travelling towards Ang Mo Kio station was also delayed by about an hour due to the faulty train in front that was being hauled back to Bishan Depot via Ang Mo Kio station.

Train services resumed at 12:05pm after the faulty train had cleared the northbound track and entered Ang Mo Kio station’s middle platform. There were about 1,800 passengers on this affected train.

Earlier in the day, a Circle Line train heading from Labrador Park station to Pasir Panjang station experienced a train fault at 8:36am and had to be taken out of service.

To maintain train services between Kent Ridge and HarbourFront, SMRT operated two shuttle train services: between Kent Ridge and Pasir Panjang on one track, and between Pasir Panjang and HarbourFront on both tracks, for passengers to continue their journey to HarbourFront.

Announcements were made at Kent Ridge, Haw Par Villa, Pasir Panjang, Labrador Park, Telok Blangah and HarbourFront stations to keep passengers updated on the change in train service. Signs were also placed at the stations’ concourse and platform levels to inform passengers of the change in train movement and SMRT staff were deployed to guide affected passengers.

Free bus bridging service was also activated between Kent Ridge and HarbourFront stations from 9:45am to around 11:38am to supplement the train shuttle services in anticipation of the number of passengers at Kent Ridge station. Normal train services resumed at 11.12 am.

SMRT is investigating the cause of the train fault. The transport company apologises for the inconvenience caused. “Passengers who were unable to complete their journeys due to the disruption can file a claim for refund at the Passenger Service Centre in any of SMRT's 68 stations within the next three working days,” said an SMRT spokesperson.