Lessons on Crowd Management, Shuttle Service Patterns and Communications from Recent Circle Line Closures

Mr Speaker, for the ongoing service adjustments along the Circle Line for tunnel strengthening works, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has kept commuters informed well in advance through publicity and community engagement efforts. At the affected stations, crowd marshals were also deployed to guide commuters and manage the crowds.

We also started the replacement shuttle bus services two weeks early to allow commuters to familiarise themselves with alternative routes before the service adjustments, which improved the situation significantly in the initial period.

With these measures in place, we have kept wait times and loading for trains manageable. Most commuters continue to be able to board the first train, other than at certain busy stretches where higher crowding is observed even without the planned closures.

We have not decided yet if scheduled closures are going to be needed for the North-East Line improvement works, but we will incorporate these lessons and feedback from commuters in refining our provision of alternative travel options for future service adjustments.

I thank the Minister for the answer. Will the Ministry consider having shuttle buses that go beyond the impacted section of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line? For example, if Kovan to Hougang was closed, can we have shuttle buses that go from Kovan to Punggol Coast, to make it more convenient for commuters, or maybe increasing the frequency of trains on the other non-impacted sections of the line, so that we can reduce the waiting time and convenience cost to the commuters?

Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his suggestions. I think when the time comes for us to look at what are the supporting services that we will put in place for the North-East Line's works, we will certainly consider those suggestions that he has given us.