Joo Koon-Gul Circle closure: Additional travel time for Tuas commuters

Commuters heading towards or away from Tuas on Monday (20^th November) had to contend with additional travelling time due to a closure of the line between Joo Koon and Gul Circle stations. Passengers had to disembark at Joo Koon station or Gul Circle, with train operator SMRT providing free bridging buses between the two, before rejoining the train network. Warehouse officer Terrence Yap, 35, who works at Tuas West, said it was very inconvenient.

He had to alight at Joo Koon, take a 10-minute shuttle bus to Gul Circle, and board the train again towards Tuas West Road. "I had to add another 15 minutes to travel," he said. "It was actually better last week cause at least the bus stopped at every station and I didn't have to get back on the train." The free shuttle buses, all double-decker buses, moved off every one to three minutes, depending on the load of each bus.

There was a steady stream of commuters heading out from Joo Koon station during the morning rush hour between 7:00am to 8:30am, with many rushing to catch the free shuttle buses towards Gul Circle. Train services between Gul Circle and Tuas Link resumed on Monday (20^th November) morning, after services were suspended on Thursday (16^th November) following a train collision the day before at Joo Koon station that left 38 injured.

The cause was a signalling glitch that happened when a train crossed over from the old signalling system used on the East-West Line to the new one used on the Tuas West Extension. Telco controller Kavitha Supramaniam, 22, said she had to wake up half an hour earlier to compensate for the additional travel time. "The journey took longer than usual because there's traffic on the road when you take the bus," she said. Some companies continued to arrange for free shuttle buses of their own to get their employees directly to their workplaces.

Engineer Wang Hai Long, 38, who works at ICF International at Tuas South Street, says the company is providing transport for all its employees until regular train services resume. "It's not a big company, so most of us can get there within two runs of the company bus," he said. "Our boss is quite understanding. Also there's no choice, we still have to go and do our work."