SINGAPORE – From June 5 to Dec 18, train services at 13 stations along the North-South and East-West Lines will start an hour later on Sundays, except on public holidays.
Train services will start by 7am instead of the usual 6am.
SMRT said in a statement on Friday (April 15) that this is to enable project teams, track patrol teams and maintenance teams to gain the equivalent of 29 additional maintenance nights over the six-month period.
Currently, they have about three to four hours of engineering hours each night to carry out works to renew and upgrade the system, in addition to carrying out regular maintenance needed for daily train operations.
Managing Director of SMRT Trains, Mr Lee Ling Wee said that the company’s priority is to ensure rail renewal works are carried out safely and in the shortest time possible to improve rail reliability.
“Extending our limited engineering hours by an additional hour once a week allows our engineers to gain additional track access to work on their respective projects and carry out maintenance work,” Mr Lee said.
“We seek the understanding and patience of commuters and the general public as we do our very best to complete the various renewal programmes with minimal impact to our train services,” he added.
Commuters are encouraged to plan their travel from 7am on Sunday mornings, where possible.
For commuters who must travel before 7am, they can use the existing bus services to get to other train stations; or use the Circle Line and Downtown Line to get to the city.
A new parallel bus service will also ply the route from Joo Koon to Bukit Gombak in both directions, said SMRT.
More information of the new parallel bus service and fares will be made available within the next few weeks.
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