Announcement

More Time for MRT Maintenance Work with Early Closure and Late Opening on NSEWL

1. From Friday, 8 December to Sunday, 31 December 2017, 17 East-West Line (EWL) MRT stations (from Tiong Bahru to Tuas Link stations) and two North-South Line MRT stations (from Bukit Batok to Bukit Gombak stations) will close earlier at 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and open later at 8am on Saturdays and Sundays. These MRT stations will also close all-day on two Sundays, on 10 December and 17 December.


2. The early closure and late opening of MRT stations will provide additional time for engineering staff to carry out planned maintenance and renewal works on tracks in the stations and train depots. Additional engineering hours will also facilitate the testing of the Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system on the EWL.


3. This arrangement will more than double LTA and SMRT’s engineering and track access time from 3 hours to 7.5 hours each night. With extended engineering hours from December 2017, the re-signalling works on the EWL will be completed significantly earlier by June 2018, instead of end-2018.


Shuttle Bus Service
4. Shuttle bus services will be provided along affected MRT stations when they are closed. These shuttle bus services will follow the same fare structure as trains.

 

5. The shuttle buses will ply the following four routes and will arrive at frequencies of 3-5 minutes (peak), and 5-10 minutes (non-peak):
A. Loop 1: Outram Park to Jurong East (Both Bounds)
B. Loop 2: Jurong East to Joo Koon (Both Bounds)
C. Loop 3: Joo Koon to Tuas Link (Both Bounds)
D. Loop 4: Jurong East to Choa Chu Kang (Both Bounds)


6. From 8 to 31 December, SMRT staff will be deployed at bus stops to assist and guide commuters. Information on the closure will be available on SMRT’s website, Facebook page and Twitter, as well as in stations and trains.


7. The locations and bus frequencies of the shuttle bus timings are detailed in Annex A, and the list of last train timings for affected stations is in Annex B.


8. Mr Lee Ling Wee, Chief Executive Officer, SMRT Trains, said: “Previous rounds of early closure or late opening of MRT service have seen engineering teams gain valuable time to work on tracks and trackside infrastructure. Parts of the train network renewed have served commuters well. Our engineering teams will make full use of the additional time to perform train and signalling tests, and planned maintenance and renewal works on tracks, in MRT stations and in train depots. We thank all commuters for supporting us in this effort to rejuvenate the North-South and East-West Lines, speedily yet safely.”