Circle Line disruption affects morning commuters after train fault near Botanic Gardens

A train fault disrupted services on the Circle Line between Paya Lebar and Buona Vista stations on 20 May 2025, affecting commuters during the busy morning peak period.

Fault and immediate impact

SMRT reported that the fault occurred at around 8.15am between Botanic Gardens and Farrer Road stations. By 8.26am, the operator issued an advisory warning commuters of possible delays of up to 30 minutes.

To ease congestion, free bus services were made available between Serangoon and Buona Vista.

Restoration of services

By 8.41am, SMRT confirmed the fault had been resolved and that train services were progressively returning to normal. The operator apologised for the disruption and said staff responded immediately to address the problem.

Part of a series of disruptions

The Circle Line fault is the latest in a series of incidents across Singapore’s MRT network in recent weeks.

On 23 April, a track point failure disrupted East-West Line services between Pasir Ris and Tampines, suspending operations for more than two hours.

On 16 April, a platform screen door detached and fell onto the track at Braddell MRT station, briefly affecting north-bound service. SMRT advised commuters to expect additional travel time before normal operations resumed at 12.40pm.

Earlier, on 4 April, a track fault halted west-bound services between Jurong East and Clementi stations for about three hours. Heavy rain delayed repair works, prolonging the disruption.

Commuter frustration

Although the 20 May Circle Line fault was resolved relatively quickly, some commuters expressed frustration on social media over repeated service interruptions across the network. Others shared images of crowded platforms as they waited for updates.

Transport analysts note that while quick recovery efforts have reduced prolonged disruptions, the frequency of faults continues to pose challenges for reliability and commuter confidence.