PUBLISHED ONOctober 01, 2024 2:25 AMBySean LerThe sight of a train arriving at Clementi MRT station brought relief to some passengers.
After six days of disruptions on the East-West Line, full train services between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations resumed on Tuesday morning (Oct 1).
When AsiaOne visited Clementi MRT station at about 5.30am, SMRT service ambassadors could be seen greeting commuters and guiding them when assistance was needed.
Operations were also running smoothly, with passenger trains arriving and departing the station according to the scheduled times displayed on the information system panel.
A 27-year-old nurse, who only wanted to be known as Huili, told AsiaOne that she was relieved that full train services on the East-West Line had resumed.
"I don't have to take the bus early in the morning. So I feel very appreciative of the reopening of the line", she said.
This sentiment was shared by another commuter, a 14-year-old student who only wanted to be known as Chenrui.
"I feel quite appreciative and happy that they (LTA and SMRT) have solved the issue".
Both commuters said that the East-West Line serves their daily commuting needs and that their journey times can be shortened with the resumption of train services.
On Monday evening, the Land Transport Authority and rail operator SMRT announced that full train services on the East-West Line would resume on Tuesday after the successful replacement of 10 rail segments that developed new cracks.
Temporary speed restrictions will be imposed on westbound trains travelling on the repaired sections of the tracks until Thursday for safety reasons.
"This is part of the standard process following rail replacements, where trains will travel more slowly at 40km/h," LTA and SMRT explained.
LTA also advised commuters who are travelling to the west on the East-West Line to plan for an additional five minutes of commute time.
Authorities initially announced that they were aiming to restore full train services on Monday. This was later delayed to Tuesday after 12 new cracks were found on some unreplaced rail segments along a 800m stretch between Clementi station and Ulu Pandan depot following stress tests over the weekend.
These cracks came about after the rail segments were weakened by the faulty train when it was returning to the depot last Wednesday.
The six-day disruption affected some 2.1 million commuters, according to a report by The Straits Times.
editor@asiaone.com
