An SMRT train approaching the Ang Mo Kio MRT station on 26 April 2016.
A stretch of the North-South Line (NSL) was hit by delays due to a signalling system fault on Monday (June 12) morning.
SMRT tweeted about the fault at 9.10am and warned commuters to expect additional travelling time of up to 20 minutes. It was later revised to 10 minutes.
It added that free regular bus services were made available.
In an update at 9.47am, SMRT said train speeds were progressively returning to normal.
Administration executive Chen Wei Xuan, 32, was late for work due to the delay. Ms Chen said she boarded the train to Jurong East from Bukit Batok at about 8.20am and only reached work at about 9.40am. She would usually be in before 9am.
“It was definitely very bad, worse than the peak period traffic when it’s not the June holidays,” she said, adding that her employer was upset with her for coming in late. “I feel like the delay is affecting my work performance.”
In a blog post last Tuesday (June 6), SMRT said there may potentially be more disruptions as it continues to intensify the testing of the new signalling system on the NSL until it stabilises.
The new communications-based train control signalling system is said to allow trains to run closer together, and arrive at intervals of up to 100 seconds during peak hours, instead of 120 seconds currently.
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