Singaporeans react to huge congestion at the NEL last week

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans have been reacting to the crowds that had to wait at the NEL last week due to a fault at Sengkang. A recent post served as a space for many to air their grievances with regard to public transportation.

Last week, a netizen took to an online news forum to share what went down at the NEL after a fault. “The NEL yesterday, 9pm, at Hougang Station because trains were evicting people out here due to the fault at Sengkang,” the post read. “This is (the) only way to Sengkang and Punggol by rail and no future planned parallel lines are confirmed yet.”

The featured photo showcased a large crowd of people waiting.

Many other online users responded to this post and shared their thoughts on the matter.

“NEL needs an upgrade someway somehow as soon as possible….peak hours on this line is a nightmare,” said one.

“This is how it is ever since NEL opened,” wrote another. “They took away our Hougang Bus Interchange (after renaming it Hougang South), and then took away more bus lines because NEL was meant to replace them, so we’re forced to use NEL.”

A third warned that something should be done to address this issue, saying, “Check out the crowds at Punggol and Sengkang LRT platforms during peak hours.. I am sure someone gonna get hurt real soon (like falling into the tracks).”

Still, a fourth went so far as to say “Punggol/Sengkang reeks of poor urban planning and transportation links. Expressway always jam and only 1 MRT line (serves) hundreds and thousands of residents. And yet the government is unwilling to build more MRT lines from Northeast to downtown.”

Many others took to the comments section of the post to air their grievances.

The NEL yesterday, 9pm, at Hougang Station because trains were evicting people out here due to the fault at Sengkang. This is only way to Sengkang and Punggol by rail and no future planned parallel lines are confirmed yet.
by u/aqua-terrarium in singapore