Delay on North-South Line due to train fault at Marsiling MRT station

Commuters on the North-South Line faced delays during their Tuesday morning (22 January) commute due to a train fault at Marsiling MRT station. Train operator SMRT said in a tweet at about 8:00am that commuters should add 30 minutes of travelling time from Woodlands to Yew Tee, in the direction of Jurong East. 

SMRT added that free regular bus services between Woodlands and Yew Tee would be available to affected commuters. In an update at about 8:30am, SMRT said commuters should now add 15 minutes to their train journeys. This was later cut to 10 minutes.

An hour after SMRT's first announcement, the train operator said that the fault was cleared and train service was being restored progressively. It also apologised to commuters for the inconvenience caused.

Free regular bus services between Woodlands and Yew Tee have ended, as train service between the stretch has resumed, SMRT said. Earlier, several netizens took to social media to share their frustration over the delay during the morning peak period.

Facebook user Heng Wey Chuan posted a photo at about 8:00am showing a large crowd at the platform of Sembawang station. He added that there was an announcement at the station notifying commuters of the delay. While SMRT has said that only trains towards Jurong East were affected, several commuters also reported that trains travelling in the direction of Marina Bay appeared to be delayed as well.

Twitter user Hadi Abdul, who shared photos of the scene at Marsiling station, said that trains travelling in both directions were slow. He said that he saw some commuters alighting from the train to take cabs instead. The Straits Times has contacted SMRT for more information.