Crowds experience delays at Tampines and Pasir Ris MRT stations due to train fault

Submitted by Stomper Marianne, k, Axcel

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Commuters travelling on the East-West Line (EWL) during today's morning rush hour (Sep 19) found themselves stranded at various MRT stations due to a train fault.

Several Stompers contributed photos and videos showing huge crowds at Tampines and Pasir Ris MRT stations, on both the concourse and platform levels.

Stomper Marianne was at Pasir Ris MRT Station at around 8.10am and wanted to travel to Paya Lebar so that she could transfer to the Circle Line.

However, she saw a big crowd on the platform but no trains.

Marianne told Stomp: "When I arrived, I was shocked that it was so crowded.

"There were no trains on both sides of the platforms. I was told to wait very long for the train and to expect to be 20 minutes late.

"At 8.15am, they announced that there was a train fault. The train eventually came at 8,35am and I reached Paya Lebar at around 9.05am to 9.10am."

The Stomper feels that there should have been earlier announcements alerting commuters to the situation.

She added: "They should have informed us before we tapped our cards so that we could have made alternative transport arrangements."

Stompers K and Axcel were at Tampines MRT station.

They sent videos showing a large swarm of commuters stranded at the entrance and concourse of the station, as well as information screens that stated an additional travelling time of 15 minutes on the EWL.

K said" Staff were not allowing people to go in. There were problems at both Tampines and Pasir Ris, but there was no tweet from SMRT telling us to avoid those stations.

"They later announced that an empty train was reversing back from Tanah Merah. I boarded the train at around 8.35am after waiting for 15 minutes."

As of 10.40am, SMRT has yet to respond to the incident on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The Straits Times reported that there was a train fault.