Circle Line shortens work trips

No Comments

Rush-hour commuters cheered the reduced travelling times and greater efficiency as the 12 newly opened stations of the Circle Line served their first working- day crowds yesterday.

One commuter, nurse Navaneetha Anbalagan, was all smiles after realising that the travelling time to her workplace has been halved as she can now catch a direct train to work.

It used to take the 25-year-old 50 minutes to get from her MacPherson home to the National University Hospital, and she had to switch between two MRT trains and a bus.

“It’s so much more convenient now. When I knock off work, I just get on the train and I’m home in the blink of an eye,” she said.

Corporate-communications executive Tan Lay Ping, 30, is glad that she no longer has to rely on a shuttle bus from the Buona Vista Station to take her to her office at Fusionopolis, which the new one-north Station now serves.

“The shuttle bus can take quite a long time to arrive. Sometimes, I might not get on the first one if it is too crowded,” Ms Tan said.

The Circle Line reduces the time taken for her to get to work from her Punggol home by more than 20 minutes.

Other commuters said that the rail line is more convenient, even if their travel time remains the same.

Teacher Lucy Seet, who declined to give her age, said that the time taken for her to travel from her Bishan home to St Margaret’s Secondary School in Farrer Road is almost the same whether by car or via the Circle Line.

“But I have to trouble my husband to drive me there. And if there are accidents or vehicle breakdowns, the journey time stretches,” Mrs Seet added.

Predictable timings and comfort are reasons why she will continue using the Circle Line.

For commuter Kwan Kian Meng, 44, the Circle Line has shortened the journey from his Telok Blangah home to the HarbourFront Station. There, the salesman switches to a train on the North-East Line to get to his workplace in Hougang.

The Circle Line might save him just five minutes, but Mr Kwan is still happy to have a train station situated so close to his home.

“I don’t need to use the Circle Line to get to work every day. But it will be useful for me to get to places I frequent, such as Holland Village and Botanic Gardens,” he added.