4 hours later, MRT service is back to normal
Track circuit between Jurong East and Clementi stations fails
Train service on a stretch of the East-West Line returned to normal last night after encountering disruptions at peak hour for almost four hours.
The train disruption began at about 6.30pm and service returned to normal at about 10.15pm.
The Straits Times understands that a track circuit between Jurong East and Clementi MRT stations had failed.
To alleviate the eastbound build-up of commuters, some westbound services got passengers to disembark at Queenstown MRT Station.
The trains then turned around to ferry eastbound passengers from Redhill MRT Station.
Train operator SMRT advised commuters at around 7.30pm to expect additional travel time of 25 minutes from Joo Koon towards Clementi, due to a track fault at Jurong East MRT Station.
Train service was still available, it said.
SMRT tweeted there was a track fault from 6.34pm.
The initial delay was estimated to be about 10 minutes, but became 20 minutes, and then 25 minutes.
The delay was shaved to 20 minutes at 9.30pm, then down to 10 minutes at 10pm.
"Train service is running normally now," SMRT tweeted at 10.17pm.
This delay came less than a week after disruption in the morning on Jan 19, which caused trains to crawl haltingly between Boon Lay and Clementi MRT stations.
The delays from 7.30am to 10am were traced to a track circuit glitch between Jurong East and Clementi MRT stations.
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