There was chaos along the East-West line earlier this morning due to a system-related train fault before Raffles Place MRT station.
According to a commuter who spoke to Mothership, passengers had to alight at Tiong Bahru station because of something that was wrong with three trains consecutively, resulting in the station being overcrowded with passengers.
Commuters were seen in photos cramped together as the other train passengers had to disembark at Tiong Bahru station.
Other waiting commuters were reportedly told to wait for the next train instead of being informed about the disruption that was taking place.
@SMRT_Singapore might want to update passengers that the service is disrupted rather than to ask them to wait for next train. There have been at least 3 trains passing through tiong bahru that required passengers to get off. pic.twitter.com/s6IXq3EEzf
— Su (@SuZhenn) March 5, 2023
SMRT statement
[UPDATE East-West Line, 5 Mar, at 1.47pm]:
On 5 March at about 11.45am, a system-related fault activated the train braking system in one of our trains on the East-West Line before Raffles Place MRT station.
We proceeded with train recovery operations. Commuters on the affected train were safely disembarked at Raffles Place station, and the train was withdrawn to the depot for investigations. Regular train services resumed progressively from 12.30pm.
In-train and station announcements were made to inform commuters of additional train travel time of up to 25 minutes from Queenstown to Bugis stations.
Free regular bus services were also activated between those stations.
As part of the NSEWL train fleet replacement programme which we are working with LTA and the OEM, commencing in 2023 and to be completed by 2026, the first 3 generations of trains will be replaced.
We are sorry to have affected your Sunday afternoon commute.
Image source: @SuZhenn on Twitter