Shortened Operating Hours for Rail Renewal Work

Shorter operating hours along selected stretches rail lines take effect on selected weekends to facilitate additional engineering hours for various purposes. This involves early closures, late openings, as well as full-day closures.

These closures allow more time for rail maintenance and renewal works to be carried out. These shorter operating hours became prevalent in the wake of the Joo Koon train collision incident in November 2017, to speed up re-signalling works as well as for other purposes.

Early Closures started in 2014 to facilitate SMRT’s rail renewal works, including the replacement of timber sleepers with concrete sleepers, third rail replacement and resignalling.

Additional Engineering Hours

East West Line

The shortened operating hours facilitate additional engineering hours for re-signalling and maintenance work. Beyond April 2018, these additional engineering hours will be used to facilitate replacement of power supply and track circuits.

From November 2020, early closure and late openings on weekends are to facilitate the trip coil replacement on the Tuas West Extension of the East West Line. In addition, power cable replacement would also take place in 2021.

From December 2024, full day closures across multiple days on a stretch of the East West Line facilitate works to integrate the East Coast Integrated Depot with the running tracks.

North South Line

The shortened operating hours facilitate additional engineering hours for intensive railway maintenance and improvement works. These works include replacement of power supply and track circuits in the later half of 2018.

North East Line

The shortened operating hours facilitate additional engineering hours to accelerate maintenance works, such as the replacement of rail crossing and track, and renewing parts of the power and signalling systems.

In June & July 2024, late openings facilitate testing and commissioning works to integrate the new Punggol Coast station to the existing North East Line network.

Sengkang & Punggol LRT

The shortened operating hours facilitate replacement works conducted on the finger joints of concrete plinths, enhanced preventive maintenance on the signalling cables, as well as the asset renewal works which include replacement of the power rail and power rail assemblies.

Bukit Panjang LRT

The full day closures allow more time for maintenance works, such as the replacement of sections of the power rails, track switch components as well as the parts of the doors and propulsion systems of LRT trains as part of the Bukit Panjang LRT Overhaul programme.

Early Closures & the full day closure on October 2023 facilitate ongoing system renewal works for the transition to the Interim Operations Control Centre.

Early Closures in March – June 2024 were to facilitate additional engineering hours for testing of the new vehicles and systems.

Early Closures from November 2024 to October 2025 were to facilitate upgrading of the BPLRT signalling system & testing of the new and retrofitted Light Rail Vehicles on the BPLRT network

Downtown Line

Late Openings on Sundays in 2017 facilitated more time for testing of the entire Downtown Line as an integrated line in preparation for the opening of Downtown Line Stage 3 from Fort Canning to Expo on 21 October 2017.

Thomson-East Coast Line

Early Closures & Late Openings on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from 3 April 2020 to 26 July 2020 facilitated additional engineering hours to test the systems and trains in preparation for the opening of TEL Stage 2 in 2021. Several more periods were put in place leading up to the opening of Stage 2. In addition, these were also put in place prior to the opening of TEL Stage 3.

Early Closures & Late Openings on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from 3 November 2023 to 26 January 2024 will facilitate the rigorous integrated testing of systems in TEL Stages 1-4, to prepare for the opening of TEL Stage 4 for passenger service in 2024.

Circle Line

Longer Intervals took place on selected days in June & July 2023 to facilitate preventive maintenance and strengthening works along a tunnel segment between Promenade and Nicoll Highway station.

Early Closures on Sundays from 15 October 2023 to 5 November 2023 will facilitate the testing of a new Automatic Train Supervision system.

Single Platform Operations at Telok Blangah and HarbourFront stations from 20 January 2024 to 5 April 2024 (originally planned till 24 May 2024) will facilitate track works to connect the Circle Line HarbourFront station to the new CCL Stage 6 extension.

List of Early Closures & Late Opening

Legend:

EC = Early Closure; LO = Late Opening; SC = Sunday (Full-Day) Closure; FC = Full Day Closure; LI = Longer Train Service Intervals; WC = Weekend Closure

Shortened operating hours on a daily basis for the Bukit Panjang LRT Line take effect from 13 January 2019 to facilitate the Bukit Panjang LRT Overhaul.

For more information, click on the individual links to access the dedicated disruption articles for each month.

Related Articles

• Revised Operating Hours for Bukit Panjang LRT (January 2019 onward)