EWL MRT Disruption to Enter Day 6 After 12 New Cracks Were Found on MRT Rails

The past week has been quite a rollercoaster ride for West-siders. Every morning, we wake up not knowing if we’ll have to spend another $50 on a Grab to the office, or if we’ll finally be able to take the MRT to work.

Well, here’s some news for all my dear West-siders — SMRT has just announced that the East-West Line (EWL) MRT disruption will be extended for another day, bringing the MRT disruptions into its sixth day.

This means it will be day 6 of my GrabPay wallet reminding me to top up more money also.

East-West Line MRT Disruption Extended for Another Day After 12 New Cracks Found on MRT Rails

On Saturday (28 September), SMRT announced in a Facebook post that restoration works for the EWL MRT tracks were completed, and that the public transport operator was proceeding to conduct testing on the tracks to ensure the tracks’ safety.

Presumably, if the testing revealed that the tracks were safe, MRT operations on the EWL would resume. As such, many Singaporeans were looking forward to being able to take the EWL train once again this week.

But expectations don’t always materialise in reality lah. 

On Sunday (29 September), SMRT put out another announcement — this time, one that was much less welcomed than the announcement it made a day earlier.

In a Facebook post, SMRT announced that the EWL MRT disruption will be extended for yet another day after 12 new cracks were found on the MRT tracks during its testing process.

“There will be no train services from Jurong East to Buona Vista stations on 30 Sep (Mon). We are working towards restoration of train services on 1 Oct (Tue), subject to weather conditions and after thorough testing have been successfully completed to ensure safety of commuters,” the public transport operator shared.

This brings the MRT disruptions to its sixth day.

But, why exactly were there 12 new cracks suddenly discovered? Did the cracks appear because of the restoration works?

As it turns out, the 12 cracks were also caused by the OG faulty train travelling back to the Ulu Pandan Depot which sparked the massive MRT disruption in the first place. These 12 cracks were not previously visible, but have now been discovered after SMRT’s load testing.

If you don’t know what we’re talking about when we say “the OG faulty train”, watch this video here to find out more:

Ten Rail Segments to be Replaced Due to the Newly Discovered Cracks; More Testing to be Conducted Afterwards

The 12 new cracks which were discovered by SMRT were found on unreplaced rail segments along the section of westbound tracks from Clementi to Ulu Pandan Depot.

And of course, SMRT will now be working to replace the affected rail segments lah. Abuden.

According to SMRT’s Facebook post, Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT engineers will be replacing not one, not two, but ten rail segments to deal with the newly discovered cracks.

Afterwards, more testing will be conducted to ensure safety and rail integrity.

“Commuter safety is our topmost priority. We will carry out rigorous checks and tests, and ensure strict safety requirements are met before resuming full passenger service. We seek commuters’ kind understanding and patience while our workers do their best to safely resume service as soon as we can,” SMRT added.

The additional day of disruptions might not be ideal, but hey — at least you’ll have a valid reason to ask your boss if you can work from home again.