Singapore, 18 July 2018

Early Closure and Late Opening of MRT stations on North-South and East-West Lines in August and September 2018

1.  For the months of August and September 2018, seven East-West Line (EWL) stations from Dover to Pioneer, and three North-South Line (NSL) stations from Bukit Gombak to Jurong East will close earlier at around 11.00pm on selected Fridays and Saturdays, and open later at around 8.00am on selected Saturdays and Sundays. The affected sectors and dates are as follows:

2.  During these planned closures, train services will operate as a bi-directional shuttle between Queenstown, Commonwealth and Buona Vista MRT Stations using a single track. This arrangement allows train services to continue between these three stations, while facilitating the turn-around of trains for the rest of the EWL. The bi-directional shuttle will operate at a longer service interval of up to 12 minutes. Commuters travelling to and from stations served only by the bi-directional shuttle will have to transfer at Queenstown MRT Station to continue their journey. Train services from Choa Chu Kang to Marina South Pier MRT Stations, and from Joo Koon to Tuas Link MRT Stations are unaffected.

3.  In December 2017, SMRT carried out early closures and late openings along the same western sector of the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL) to facilitate intensified testing of the EWL’s new Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system. Since 28 May 2018, the CBTC signalling system has been in use for daily passenger services on the EWL. For the months of August and September 2018, our engineering teams will use the additional hours to continue with track maintenance and renewal works along this sector of the NSEWL.

Alternative Travel Arrangements for Journey Planning

4.  To maintain connectivity for commuters along the affected sectors, Shuttle Bus Service 2 will ply along the EWL stretch between Buona Vista and Joo Koon MRT Stations, while Shuttle Bus Service 4 will serve commuters between Choa Chu Kang and Jurong East MRT Stations, stopping at designated bus stops near the affected stations to pick-up and drop-off passengers.

5.  In addition, an express bus service that offers direct connections across major transport nodes along the affected EWL stretch will be provided to complement the shuttle bus services during the late openings on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Express 5 will offer two direct trips from Boon Lay MRT Station to Jurong East and Buona Vista MRT Stations, and make two direct trips from Buona Vista MRT Station to Jurong East and Boon Lay MRT Stations. Please refer to the table below for more information.

6.  As the timing of the first and last trains departing the affected stations along NSL and EWL will vary, commuters are advised to check for station-specific timings on SMRT’s trains’ website and social media platforms when planning their journeys on affected dates. More information on train service timings during the planned closures of MRT stations in August and September 2018 can be found in the Appendices attached. Commuters are also reminded to cater for additional travel time when using the shuttle bus services.

7.  SMRT will keep commuters updated on changes in timing to train operations and alternative transport arrangements on SMRT’s trains’ website: https://www.smrttrains.com.sg as well as through SMRT’s Facebook, Twitter feed and the SMRTConnect app.

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Please refer to the posters below for more information: