Another day, another train disruption, but some in Singapore are keeping score

SINGAPORE: There were two disruptions to train services in Singapore over the weekend, one at Punggol LRT on Saturday (Sep 13) and another between the Newton and Ang Mo Kio stations, towards Jurong East, on the North-South Line on Sunday (Sep 14).

Saturday’s disruption lasted three hours, while Sunday’s was resolved within 40 minutes, and free bus services were offered to affected commuters. After the incidents, both the heads of SBS Transit and SMRT Trains apologised for the inconvenience caused to commuters by the interruptions to rail services.

However, some in Singapore are keeping track of the recent faults.

In an r/Singapore post on Sept 14, u/xutkeeg made a list of 14 train disruptions that allegedly occurred since July 1.

• July 1, 2025: TEL 5-hour disruption
• July 3, 2025: Bukit Panjang LRT 2-hour disruption
• July 8, 2025: NSL 1-hour disruption
• July 19, 2025: Bukit Panjang LRT 2-hour disruption (2:45 pm to 4:15 pm)
• August 6, 2025: EWL 5-hour disruption
• August 12, 2025: Sengkang-Punggol LRT 10-hour disruption
• August 12, 2025: NEL 3-hour disruption
• August 15, 2025: Sengkang-Punggol LRT 4-hour disruption
• August 28, 2025: DTL 1-hour disruption
• September 1, 2025: CCL 1-hour disruption
• September 2, 2025: NSL 0.5-hour disruption
• September 10, 2025: TEL Springleaf 0.25-hour disruption
• September 10, 2025: Tanah Merah-Changi Airport 0.25-hour disruption
• September 13, 2025: Punggol LRT 3-hour disruption
• September 14, 2025: NSL x hour disruption (ongoing)

While some of the times may be slightly off-base based on SMRT’s updates, for example, and some of the disruptions were substantially shorter than others, the list pretty much tracks (pun intended).

The list above does not take into account the three major disruptions that occurred in February. On Feb 7, a faulty engineering vehicle affected the North-South and East-West Lines. On Feb 10, there was another disruption due to a signalling fault on the North East Line, and one day after that, a signalling fault caused power issues on the Circle Line.

After an investigation was conducted by the LTA, Chee Hong Tat, the Transport Minister at the time, said in Parliament on Feb 26 that there was no “systemic issue or concern” with SBS Transit or SMRT, and added that a committee of inquiry would not be necessary. He also said that the three incidents, though they happened one after another, were not related.

On the Facebook page My Grandfather’s Road on Sep 3, another list of disruptions was posted, calling Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow “the unluckiest” in Singapore’s history.

“Take over on 23 May 2025, inherit Chee Hong Tat’s leftover buffet of breakdowns… then kena 9-course degustation in just 3 months. TEL, EWL, NEL, NSL, CCL, LRT — like a Michelin tasting menu, every line must present at least one dish.  Every week, open the lid, confirm a new surprise inside. Maybe time to stop calling engineers… and start calling Feng Shui masters,” the post reads.

A local Reddit user has even taken to posting an MRT Breakdown Bingo card for September, marking each time there has been a disruption.

MRT reliability is the lowest in 5 years

Earlier this month, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) published a rail service reliability report that said that MRT reliability had fallen to its lowest level over the last 12 months since 2020.

The LTA uses a 12-month moving average of mean kilometres between failures (MKBF) to measure train reliability. From July 2024 to June 2025, on average, the MRT network registers about 1.6 million train-km without service delays that were over five minutes. According to an article in CNA, this is the least distance trains have travelled without service delays in five years. In 2020, trains travelled around 1.45 million train-km between delays. 

The mood online

Comments from local Reddit users show a growing weariness with what they feel is an increased frequency of train disruptions.

“This might actually be the worst I have ever seen our public trains being managed. I don’t remember this sort of frequency of errors in the past,” one wrote after the Punggol LRT breakdown.

“I figured that old lines (especially EWL and NSL) might be reaching their end-of-life, and the time for major overhauls is here. But somehow, it’s like virtually every line has started breaking down with an alarming frequency at the same time, regardless of their age. That’s something to be worried about,” wrote another.

“On one hand, luckily it didn’t happen during peak hours on a working day, but on the other hand, can we just NOT for once smh,” a Reddit user chimed in.

“Keep this up, and KL might have a more reliable MRT/LRT system at this rate…,” another added.

One sighed, “Another day, another train breakdown/disruption.”

Others, however, appear to be choosing humour as a coping mechanism.

“My fellow Singaporeans. Please wake up 30 minutes earlier if you want to take the train to school or work on time. Those who will reprimand you for your punctuality live within 20-30 minutes by car. Hahahahahahahahaha,” wrote one. /TISG

Read also: SMRT Trains president apologises for 40-min North-South Line disruption on 14 Sept due to train fault