Students Late for N Level Exam & SMRT Addresses September Breakdowns

A significant disruption on the Thomson-East Coast Line on the morning of September 17, 2025, impacted commuters, including students sitting for a national examination. The service interruption, caused by a signalling fault, affected a massive 27-station stretch of the line, from Woodlands North to Bayshore stations, beginning at approximately 7:30 a.m.

The disruption occurred on a critical day for students, as it was the date of a GCE N(A)-level humanities examination. Eighteen students were delayed due to the train service failure. In response to queries, a spokesperson for the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) confirmed that all affected students were not penalized for their late arrival. The board's policy ensures that any candidate who reaches the examination center before the official end of the paper is granted the full duration to complete it. The students were given adequate time to settle down before commencing their exam.

Operator SMRT first alerted the public to the fault in a Facebook post at 7:29 a.m.. To mitigate the impact on commuters, the company implemented free regular and bridging bus services along the affected route. After extensive efforts to resolve the issue, service was fully restored. SMRT announced the resumption of train operations and the end of the free bus services at 8:54 a.m., with a final update posted at 9:03 a.m. apologizing for the disruption.

This incident was notably the fifth disruption to hit the MRT network within the month of September, raising concerns about network reliability. Other incidents included a fault on the East-West Line on September 16, a 40-minute disruption on the North-South Line on September 14, and earlier faults on the North-South and Circle Lines on September 2 and 1, respectively.

In response to the series of incidents, SMRT Trains president Lam Sheau Kai addressed public concerns later that day. He stated that the recent disruptions were "isolated cases" and not indicative of "systemic issues across the entire rail network." His comments aimed to reassure the public amid data from the Land Transport Authority showing that the MRT network's reliability over the 12 months ending June 2025 had fallen to its lowest level since 2020.

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