SINGAPORE: SBS Transit has apologised for not sending out alerts to Downtown Line commuters who experienced travel delays on Thursday morning (May 24).
"We apologise that no alerts were issued and to all affected passengers, we are sorry for the inconvenience that was caused. We are investigating the cause of the fault with the Land Transport Authority and the vendor," said Ms Tammy Tan, senior vice president of corporate communications for SBS Transit.
AdvertisementThe delay was caused by a signalling fault at Tampines West Station, Ms Tan said.
"On the approach to this station for both directions, trains had to be manually operated. This resulted in a slowdown in train speeds. Trains continued to arrive at stations but instead of the usual 2.5-minute headway, it lengthened to about five minutes," Ms Tan said.
The signalling processor was successfully reset at about 8.15am and normal service progressively resumed after that, she said.
There was no stoppage of train service on the Downtown Line throughout the fault until the processor was reset, Ms Tan added.
AdvertisementAdvertisementPhotos on social media showed long queues at Bedok North station and trains "packed to the brim" at Hillview station.
LIVE PICTURE: Due to unknown delays on the Downtown Line, most likely a backlogging at 6 Av, ALL trains will be running with Delays
Here’s a train stopping at Hillview Station, trains packed to the brim and commuters queuing up, waiting for the next train
PHOTO: busesingapore pic.twitter.com/0FpkcdYs8z
— MRT Singapore Service Information (@mrtsginfo) May 24, 2018
Channel NewsAsia reader Maurice Tang, who was travelling from Hillview to Bugis, said that the train stopped at some stations for a longer time than it usually does.Here’s a train stopping at Hillview Station, trains packed to the brim and commuters queuing up, waiting for the next train
PHOTO: busesingapore pic.twitter.com/0FpkcdYs8z
— MRT Singapore Service Information (@mrtsginfo) May 24, 2018
"The train stopped at Beauty World for 10 minutes and then stopped again at Newton for another 10 minutes," he said.
Ms Tan also said that some commuters at Bedok Reservoir had waited for about 15 minutes to board a train.
Many commuters had taken to social media to complain about the lack of alerts from the public transport operator.
"A delay for city-bound trains from Bukit Panjang on the Downtown Line which was reported by my colleagues at 8.13am. But of course if @SBSTransit_Ltd never reported it, it never happened," said Twitter user @eisen.
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...