MRT disruption: Jurong East-Buona Vista stretch to remain closed for third day running; full service targeted for Monday

SINGAPORE: There will be no train service on the East-West Line between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on Friday (Sep 27), prolonging a service disruption that started on Wednesday morning.

In the meantime, free regular and bridging bus services will continue to be available for commuters affected by the disruption.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and rail operator SMRT had hoped to partially restore services on Friday by exploring the possibility of operating a shuttle train service between the two stations.

"We had tried our best to make this option work by expediting the repairs on one of the tracks. We have since determined that it can be done, but it would mean slowing down the repairs on the parallel damaged rail as repairs cannot be done when the shuttle train service is in operation," the authorities said in a joint release on Thursday night.

"On balance, it is better to prioritise repair and expedite restoring full service earlier, rather than run a 20-minute shuttle between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations."

This is because running the shuttle train could "risk delaying full restoration by at least a few days".

The authorities said SMRT will aim to restore full service on Monday.

On Thursday, the authorities said that engineers had found "extensive damage" to the track and trackside equipment, caused by a faulty train as it was returning to Ulu Pandan depot.

A defective component known as an axle box had dropped onto the train tracks, causing one bogie - or an undercarriage with wheels - to come off the running rail between the Dover and Clementi stations.

This fault - the first of its kind that has happened on an SMRT train - led to further damage. 

The engineers found 34 rail breaks across 1.6km of tracks between the stations at Dover and Clementi, as well as damage to three machines that are used to divert the trains to different tracks.

The third rail that supplies power, as well as power cables and rail clips, were also damaged, said the authorities.

This caused the power trip that occurred at about 9.25am on Wednesday, which led to another train near Clementi station to stall. 

The faulty train, made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, has been in service for 35 years. The authorities said that all the Kawasaki Heavy Industries trains running on Thursday have passed the axle box functionality checks.