8 January 2006 – At 6.36am today, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) conducted an emergency exercise on the public transport system in Singapore. The Dhoby Ghaut station along the North East Line (NEL) and Toa Payoh bus interchange were two of the four incident sites.

As a result of the exercise, Dhoby Ghaut, Clarke Quay and Chinatown stations along the North East Line have been temporarily closed. They will resume service later in the morning. Train service from Punggol station going towards HarbourFront station will terminate at Little India station while train service from HarbourFront station going towards Punggol station will terminate at Outram Park station.

To minimise the inconvenience caused to commuters, SBS Transit is providing free bus bridging service to commuters at designated exits of Outram Park, Chinatown, Clarke Quay, Dhoby Ghaut and Little India stations. For commuters who wish to continue their journey on NEL towards Punggol station, they can board the free shuttle bus at Dhoby Ghaut, Chinatown, Clarke Quay or Outram Park stations to connect to Little India station to continue their journey. As for commuters who wish to travel to HarbourFront station, they can board the free shuttle bus at Little India, Dhoby Ghaut, Clarke Quay or Chinatown stations to Outram Park station to continue their journey. Please refer to the bus bridging service details on the map attached.

At Toa Payoh bus interchange, there will not be any disruption to normal bus services while the emergency exercise is in progress. However, the boarding berths for Services 139 and 145 have been relocated to Gate E1 and Service 143 to Gate E2 temporarily until the end of the exercise.

SBS Transit has also deployed about 88 Goodwill Ambassadors comprising staff from various departments to all affected train stations, as well as Toa Payoh and HarbourFront bus interchanges to assist commuters. Information posters and directional signs have been put up to minimise inconvenience.

All SBS Transit bus services will not be affected by this exercise and will operate as per normal. Members of the public may however encounter some delay as there is expected to be some traffic slowdown along affected routes.

Commuters who wish to enquire about the bus bridging service can contact our customer feedback hotline at 1800 287 2727 or access our Northstar webpage.

SBS Transit – Fact sheet for Exercise Northstar

1. Number of stations closed due to the exercise: 3
   (Dhoby Ghaut, Clarke Quay and Chinatown)
   
2. Number of affected bus interchange: 1
   - Toa Payoh Interchange is affected in the exercise but bus services will not be disrupted. To facilitate the exercise, the boarding berths of three services (Services 139, 143 and 145) will be temporarily relocated to other boarding berths.
   
3. Total number of staff involved in the preparation of Northstar: About 300 including management, support and frontline staff.
   
4. Total number of months took to prepare for Northstar: 6 months since July 2005.
   
5. Number of in-house exercise conducted in preparation of Northstar: 6
   
6. Total number of Goodwill ambassadors (GA) deployed for Northstar: 88 (Each GA will be given an emergency kit)
   
7. Number of Goodwill ambassadors deployed in each affected NEL station: 10
   
8. Number of Goodwill ambassadors deployed in Toa Payoh interchange: 12
   
9. Items in the Goodwill ambassador kit:
   - High Visibility Vest
   - Whistle
   - Lanyard/plastic holder for staff card
   - Layout map of interchange/station indicating entrances/exits, exit routes and rendezvous point
   - Bus Services information
   - Bus traffic diversion plan
   - Alternative shuttle service information
   - Emergency phone numbers of interchange/stations and other operation staff
   - Team members contact list
   
10. Number of shuttle bus deployed for Northstar: 25 air-con single deck buses
    
11. Number of Bus Captains deployed to operate the shuttle buses: 25
    
12. Number of Traffic Inspectors deployed to regulate the bus shuttle service and assist passengers: 14
    
13. Frequency of shuttle bus: 4 minutes interval
    
14. Number of souvenir ez-link cards for affected commuters: 5000 (cost of producing the cards are shared by SBS Transit, SCDF, LTA and SMRT
    

Click here to download advertising poster.


SBS Transit's Bus Bridging Services for Exercise Northstar
To minimise the inconvenience caused to commuters, SBS Transit is providing free bus bridging services to commuters at the affected stations during the exercise.

Dhoby Ghaut station:

• Free shuttle bus to Clarke Quay, Chinatown and Outram Park stations is available at the bus-stop in front of Park Mall.
• Passengers going towards Punggol can take free shuttle bus at the bus-stop in front of MacDonald House to Little India station to continue their journey.

Chinatown station:

• Free shuttle bus to Outram Park and Little India stations. The bus will also stop at Dhoby Ghaut and Clarke Quay stations.

Clarke Quay station:

• Free shuttle bus to Chinatown and Outram Park stations or to Dhoby Ghaut and Little India stations.

Outram Park station:

• Free shuttle bus to Little India station. The bus will also stop at Chinatown, Clarke Quay and Dhoby Ghaut stations.

Little India station:

• Free shuttle bus to Outram Park station. The bus will also stop at Chinatown, Clarke Quay and Dhoby Ghaut stations.

Our Traffic Inspectors and Goodwill ambassadors will be present to assist commuters with enquiries to the bus bridging services.