North-East Line disrupted for 2 hours in morning due to signalling fault

Train services on the North-East Line (NEL) were disrupted for about two hours during the morning rush hour period on Feb. 10 due to a signalling fault.

Commuters were advised to expect up to 30 minutes of additional travel time at the height of the disruption.

Delay started before 6:30am

SBS Transit, which operates the NEL, said in a 6:23am post on X that NEL service had been delayed due to a signalling fault.

It advised commuters to expect additional travel time of about 10 minutes.

SBS Transit's subsequent Facebook post clarified the fault was encountered at Buangkok MRT station.

Commuters at HarbourFront, Outram Park, Chinatown, Dhoby Ghaut, Little India or Serangoon MRT stations were advised to use alternative MRT lines, such as the Circle Line, North-South Line and Downtown Line.

SBS Transit said that free regular bus rides were made available at Serangoon, Hougang and Sengkang bus interchanges.

Commuters could also take free regular and bridging bus services at designated bus stops between Dhoby Ghaut MRT station and Punggol Coast MRT station.

In a subsequent 7:11am post, SBS Transit said that 20 minutes of extra travelling time could be expected.

A 7:43am post placed the extra travelling time at 30 minutes.

The crowds

In a post on Facebook, a large number of commuters were seen crowding at Punggol MRT station during the disruption.

The user wrote that crowds gathered at the platform and station on Feb. 10 morning as the packed city-bound trains did not move off from the station for a long time.

"I can't imagine the situation down the line," he added.

Back to regular service by 8:28am

At 8:28am, SBS Transit said in an update that the NEL was back to regular service.

"Once again, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused," the operator wrote.

Top image from Cp RailNbuses/Facebook