Shorter waiting time for commuters as frequency of train trips increases

MRT commuters can now look forward to shorter waiting times between trains – especially during off-peak periods – as more trains and train trips have been activated for the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL) over the year.   The overall average peak wait for NSEWL has improved by 8%  – from 2.5 minutes in January 2014 to 2.3 minutes today.   This year alone, a total of 13 new trains were added to the NSEWL, thus increasing the train frequency from 128 to 141. With the addition of new trains, older trains were allowed to be removed from operational service for resignalling works.  As for the North East Line (NEL), the addition of trains during evening peak period has brought headways down to 2.7 minutes from 3 minutes. The off-peak headway has also reduced to less than 5 minutes since the addition of three more trains.  The Circle Line (CCL) also saw a decrease in off-peak wait times – from 6 minutes to 5 minutes – after 8.4% more weekly trips were added since January this year while peak headways remained at 3.5 minutes. This will progressively get better as new trains start to arrive from next year onwards.   Photo: SMRT    Read Also:  Selected MRT stations to close earlier for sleeper replacement