Shuttle bus services plying four routes will be rolled out for commuters affected by shorter operating hours at some MRT stations next month, public transport operator SMRT said yesterday. Separately, SMRT said that it will be enhancing its app to provide commuters with more accurate travel information on their mobile devices as early as next month. The four loop services are Outram Park-Jurong East, Jurong East-Joo Koon, Joo Koon-Tuas Link, and Jurong East-Choa Chu Kang.

From 8^th to 31^st December, 17 stations on the East-West Line (EWL) from Tiong Bahru to Tuas Link, and two North-South Line stations - Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak - will close at 11:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and open at 8:00am on Saturdays and Sundays.

On two Sundays, 10^th and 17^th December, the stations will close for the whole day. SMRT staff will be stationed at bus stops to assist commuters. In some cases, commuters may have to take more than one shuttle service.

For example, a commuter travelling from Clementi station to Boon Lay station will first take the Outram Park-Jurong East bus and then transfer to the Jurong East-Joo Koon bus at the Jurong East Temporary Interchange.

The buses, which will follow the same fare structure as trains, will run every three to five minutes during peak hours, and every five to 10 minutes the rest of the time. The shorter operating hours and closures are intended to give engineering staff more time to carry out planned maintenance and renewal works on tracks in the stations and train depots, and also test the communications-based train control system on the EWL. This will allow re-signalling works on the EWL to be completed by June instead of the end of next year.

Said Mr. Lee Ling Wee, Chief Executive Officer of SMRT Trains, "We thank all commuters for supporting us in this effort to rejuvenate the North-South and East-West Lines, speedily yet safely." Enhancements to SMRT's travel app - called SMRT-Connect - will be rolled out in three phases from 17^th December until September, when they are targeted to be fully launched. These are intended to help commuters better plan their journeys during peak periods or train service disruptions.

Information includes how many trains commuters may have to wait for before they can board or which station platform doors to stand at so they can get into a less crowded carriage. Mr. Patrick Nathan, Vice President of Corporate Communications at SMRT Corp, told The Straits Times yesterday that this real-time information system will help users plan ahead, especially during service delays. He said that to assess congestion levels, SMRT will tap real-time information from multiple sources, including Wi-Fi access points, fare gate data, train load data and camera feeds.