Frustration and confusion as MRT services halted between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations for hours

SINGAPORE: Commuters on the East-West Line on Wednesday (Sep 25) were left frustrated after MRT services between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations were halted from about 9.30am.
Nine stations are affected by the disruption: Boon Lay, Lakeside, Chinese Garden, Jurong East, Clementi, Dover, Buona Vista, Commonwealth and Queenstown. 
Long queues were seen at some of the MRT stations as commuters waited for bridging buses.
A train on the East-West Line caused a power trip when it was returning to Ulu Pandan depot at about 9.25am. This caused a train near Clementi station to stall.
One eyewitness, who wanted to be known only as Mdm Tan, said there appeared to be smoke coming from a train arriving at Clementi station.
About 850 commuters on the stalled train were “safely detrained” onto the tracks, said SMRT, adding that staff guided them back to the station platform.
A Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesperson said on Wednesday afternoon that train services between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations would not be available for at least the rest of the day.
From 5pm, SMRT will run separate shuttle train services between Buona Vista and Queenstown stations, as well as between Jurong East and Boon Lay stations. These shuttle trains will be at intervals of 10 minutes.
SMRT first flagged the disruption in train service at 9.52am, attributing it to a “traction power fault”.
It later said the issue was caused by a “train fault” before characterising the incident as a power fault. 
“If you are heading towards Jurong East, take the free regular or bridging bus to Jurong East at Boon Lay and continue your journey on (the North-South Line) to Outram Park via Woodlands,” said SMRT. 
Free regular and bridging bus services have been made available between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations.
Long queues were seen on Wednesday afternoon at the bus stop near Queenstown MRT station as commuters waited to board bridging buses.
A staff member was also spotted at the station telling commuters to exit the station amid the disruption.
A CNA reader who was at Buona Vista MRT station at about 9.25am said that there was no train service from Buona Vista heading towards Pasir Ris.
Passengers who were on the train towards Tuas Link were also asked to disembark and take the bridging bus services.
At the bus stop outside Buona Vista MRT station, staff in SMRT uniforms answered questions from commuters and helped to direct them towards the free shuttle buses.
A CNA reporter at the scene at about 11.30am noted loudhailers were used to announce the directions of services and numbers of regular buses arriving at the stop.
There were clear signs of frustration at times as people tried to get clarity on where the buses would go.
One passenger uttered an expletive after being told that the shuttle bus he was on was terminating at Buona Vista.
Another spoke in heated tones with an SMRT staff member while trying to find out how he could get to Raffles Place.
A commuter at Buona Vista MRT station, who was trying to get to Bugis for work, told CNA the looping bus service was “confusing”.
He took the free shuttle from Jurong East to Buona Vista, but was still trying to get to Queenstown to catch a train heading east.
As heavy rain started, shuttle buses leaving Buona Vista MRT station were packed, with many passengers standing.
A 70-year-old commuter, who asked not to be named, told CNA the situation was “totally unacceptable”.
The man, who was using a walking stick, told CNA that he was “very careful” when moving as he had difficulty walking and a heart condition.
This was his first time encountering an MRT disruption.
He was trying to travel one stop – from Buona Vista to Commonwealth – but said he was told by staff that he had to take a shuttle bus to Queenstown and then another bus to Commonwealth.
He felt that SMRT could provide better contingency services, such as shuttle buses that go directly to nearby stations.
A commuter CNA spoke to said he was asked to alight at Queenstown station at 10.30am.
Iliyas Juanda, 27, was at Tanjong Pagar station when his train stopped at 9.45am. An announcement then came in that there was no service between Queenstown and Boon Lay stations.
Mr Iliyas was heading to Nayang Technological University for his lecture. He said that there was no crowd control at the station when he alighted.
It later improved because of the presence of a couple of Traffic Police officers.
Mr Iliyas added that it did not help the situation when it started raining.
More staff members were seen later on, with SBS and SMRT staff members seen on either end of the bus stop at Queenstown station.
He added that there also appeared to be conflicting information about the bus bridging services. Mr lliyas was later able to board a bridging bus at Queenstown at 11.30am.
In response to a Facebook comment that said a train was not moving from Kallang to Boon Lay, SMRT said at about 10.10am that westbound trains were being turned around at Queenstown. 
“Therefore, train speed is being regulated. We have made in-train and station announcements. We are sorry for affecting your commute.”
Other Facebook users also expressed frustration with the bridging bus services. 
One commuter wrote on Facebook that there were no bridging bus services at Buona Vista for about 20 minutes, while another reported “no bridging bus in sight at Jurong East”.
In response, SMRT advised commuters to take regular buses without tapping in as they are “free to board”.
However, another commuter wrote that bus operators were unaware of the disruption and did not inform commuters not to tap when boarding.
CNA has contacted the Ministry of Transport for more information.
The incident on Wednesday is the third train service disruption in slightly over a week. 
Service on the Circle Line was disrupted for nearly two hours due to a power fault on the evening of Sep 17, affecting peak-hour travel for scores of commuters. 
The next day, a fire at a train depot again disrupted Circle Line services, causing an outage of about 15 minutes. 
Additional reporting by Davina Tham, Koh Wan Ting and Firdaus Hamzah.
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