Transcript for Acting Minister Jeffrey Siow's Media Doorstop Interview at Serangoon MRT Station on Circle Line Service Adjustment from 17 January 2026 to 19 April 2026

1.          Good morning, everyone. I am here at Serangoon MRT station this morning to observe some of the preparation works ahead of the scheduled service disruptions that will begin on the Circle Line on 17 January.

2          The scheduled service disruptions are necessary because:

a.          We have to start conducting some major maintenance works, and the normal engineering hours that we have – of about two to three hours every night after the end of service – is not sufficient for us to do these works.

b.          We need a continuous, long period of time so that we can complete these works as quickly and safely as possible for our workers. This is because the works involve heavy machinery and equipment, and it is not safe to be moving them in and out of the worksite.

3.          I understand that the scheduled service disruptions will cause some inconvenience to commuters. It is not easy for commuters to make adjustments to their daily schedules. This particular service adjustment will be one of the longest service adjustments that we have done in recent years, and will affect a number of commuters.

3.          LTA, as well as the public transport operators, have been working very hard to provide a range of travel alternatives for our commuters. As you saw this morning, they also work very hard inform the commuters that these adjustments are coming, and seek their help and cooperation to try out some of these alternatives ahead of time, to prepare themselves for when we start the service disruptions.

a.          The Circle Line will continue to run, including the part that is affected – from Paya Lebar to Mountbatten stations. There will still be some train service, but headways will be significantly degraded to about 10 minutes. This means that if you take this route, you will probably have around another additional 30 minutes added to your schedule.

b.          If you can avoid taking this route, I suggest you do so. If there are alternative pathways along the train network, please try to take them.

i.          For example, if you are travelling from the northeast to the west part of Singapore, instead of changing at Serangoon station and travelling on the Circle Line, you can also travel on the North East Line to Outram Park station and change to the East West Line.

c.          In addition, we have also implemented temporary shuttle bus services to take commuters from parts of the train network that are affected to parts that are not affected. We have already started running some of these shuttle bus services, and hope that some of the commuters will try this out so that they know whether the route is suitable for them, and how much time it will take for them to complete their journey.

5.          We ask for commuters’ understanding and patience as we begin this phase of our works. We will try to complete the works as soon as possible and, at the same time, make sure that our commuters are able to get to where they want to go. It will require a bit of adjustment, particularly in the first few days, so we ask for their patience.

6.          Allow me to summarise. First of all, I want to thank commuters for their understanding as we begin this phase of our scheduled service adjustments. We need this time because we need to do major maintenance work on the Circle Line, but we have prepared good travel alternatives for you. This includes temporary shuttle bus services, which we have begun running. I encourage commuters to try out some of these alternative travel routes, so that you know which of these travel routes are most suitable for you and the additional travel time that it will take for you to complete your journeys. I want to thank commuters for their understanding, because I know it is not easy for them to change their daily routines, but these works are necessary. We will try to complete them as soon as possible with the least amount of inconvenience to our commuters.

7.          环线从1月17日会开始进行我们计划的维修工程以及服务调整。

8.          在此，我要鼓励受影响的乘客尽量做提前的准备，试试看我们准备好的接驳巴士以及其他的路线。 这样的话，他们才会比较了解哪一条路线会适合他们，以及这条路线会怎样增加他们的旅程时间。

9.          如果有乘客一起配合，一起合作的话，那我有信心1月17日开始时，我们乘客的旅程就会更顺。在此答谢我们的乘客的耐心，还有他们的体谅。