Commuters catching the shuttle train towards Queenstown at Buona Vista MRT station at 8.35am on Sept 27. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: Felicitas Ng may have to forgo her usual church routine this weekend, as the disruption of train services between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on the East-West Line continues for the third day.
The 20-year-old, who was travelling to Tiong Bahru where she tutors students, was shocked to discover there was no train service between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on Sept 27 when she arrived at Jurong East having taken the North-South Line.
“I usually travel to Commonwealth for church. This means that my weekend plans have to change, especially now that I need to take the bridging bus to Buona Vista and then continue to Commonwealth,” she added.
Meanwhile, Joshua Chitty, 32, is relieved that he can avoid the area over the weekend, after being over 20 minutes late for a meeting on Sept 27 with a client at Boon Lay due to the disruption.
“I travel everywhere, rarely here in the west, but today was one of these days. I live in Bedok and I don’t have to see anyone in the area this week, so I don’t need to deal with this whole thing,” said the self-employed distributor and marketer.
Singapore’s second-longest rail disruption affected about 874,000 passengers over the first two days – some 358,000 passengers on Sept 25, and an estimated 516,000 on Sept 26. Rail operator SMRT said it aims to restore services fully on Sept 30.
On Sept 25, a faulty train that was withdrawn from service and on its way back to a depot had caused extensive damage to tracks and trackside equipment near Clementi and Dover stations.
The support for commuters provided so far, including bridging buses and ground staff to help them, will continue into the weekend, SMRT said at about 6pm on Sept 27.
About 80 double-decker buses have been deployed to provide free bridging services for affected passengers between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations.
In addition, 620 ground staff members from the Land Transport Authority, SMRT, and transport operators SBS Transit and Tower Transit, as well as police officers, managed the crowds during the morning peak period on Sept 26 and 27.
When The Straits Times visited the Buona Vista and Jurong East stations at about 7am on Sept 27, queues for the bridging buses moved briskly and there was almost no wait time, with the buses arriving in quick succession.
At 7.35am, a large crowd was seen at Jurong East, but it had subsided by around 8.30am.
But there was still some confusion on the ground over which train to board, despite instructions from SMRT staff. Many were late for school or work as a result of taking the wrong train.
At Queenstown, there was confusion around the shuttle train services to Buona Vista, as there were also eastbound train services heading to Pasir Ris at the station.
Li Min travelled for over three hours starting at 8.30am, but was still nowhere near her workplace at 11.35am. She made the mistake of taking an eastbound train at Queenstown, instead of the shuttle train to Buona Vista.
“I was panicking. I took the train all the way back to Kembangan before realising I was going the wrong way,” said the 36-year-old, who commutes from Pasir Ris to Jurong East to work in a mall.
She said she will drive in to work instead next week.
Commuters said there should be clearer signage to show where the train was headed, rather than staff having to tell commuters individually.
There was no such signage except the digital signboard, which showed Buona Vista or Pasir Ris to indicate the direction of the train.
Zainab Saniff, 66, said she could have taken a direct bus to her office in Eunos, but instead was told to take a bridging bus to Buona Vista, which was a hassle to figure out.
The executive officer said she will be taking a cab, instead of the train, to her relatives’ home in Punggol on Saturday.
Annie Wong, 77, was rushing on the afternoon of Sept 27 to her medical appointment at the Singapore General Hospital from her home in Boon Lay.
“I’m worried because I’m rushing for time,” said Wong, who took a day’s leave from her job as a cleaner to go for her appointment. “Now I have to get on and off so many times before I reach the hospital.”
Several initiatives have started to offer transport support to those who need it.
Among these are free taxi rides from the affected MRT stations for pupils taking their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
Alex Lim, who runs a bakery, put up a Facebook post on Sept 27 offering to take pupils who need it to their PSLE.
The 50-year-old, who has two kids aged 17 and 26, said: “The students are already so stressed for PSLE. Now they also have problems getting to school - more stress. I have free time in the morning, so I can help.”
Minister of State for Health Rahayu Mahzam also wrote a Facebook post on Sept 27 about volunteers from the Education & Community Committee in Bukit Batok East reaching out to residents to offer such support till Sept 30.
No one has reached out to Rahayu or Lim yet, and checks by ST did not find primary school pupils using the free taxi service.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said in a Facebook post on Sept 27 that she visited Jurong East in the afternoon to see how MRT and bus bridging operations were proceeding.
“Happy to see that the bus bridging services were running smoothly, with commuters experiencing minimal wait times to board the buses,” she said.
She noted that the bus bridging area for Jurong East MRT station is about an eight-minute walk from the station to ensure that the pick-up location is safe for passengers and would not cause traffic congestion.
“We understand this may be a long walk for some commuters, especially the elderly or unwell. Such passengers may alert staff and volunteers on ground to their need for assistance. Our officers stand ready to help, using available wheelchairs if need be,” she added.
Another commuter, Jamie Lim, 23, said the disruption tacked on an extra 20 minutes to her commute to work from Jurong East to Outram.
But she said: “It’s OK. The staff managed the situation well. No one wanted this to happen. I can see they’re trying their best.” - The Straits Times/ANN
