Circle Line service adjustments: What you need to know

Passengers can expect additional waiting times of up to 30 minutes during peak hours

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan Correspondent

Users of the Circle Line (CCL) will face additional waiting times of up to 30 minutes during peak hours due to tunnel strengthening works from Jan 17 to April 19, 2026.

Steel reinforcement plates will be installed for a 450m stretch of tunnels connecting Mountbatten, Dakota and Paya Lebar stations that have shown some signs of deterioration, such as water leaks.

To facilitate this, the two tunnels connecting these stations will be closed one at a time during the three months.

About 480,000 passengers are expected to be affected daily. If you are one of them, here is what you need to know.

Q How will CCL train service change?

A Wait times on the entire CCL will be longer during the three months.

Shuttle trains will ply the stretch between Mountbatten, Dakota and Paya Lebar stations, operating at 10-minute intervals from a single platform at these stations due to the tunnel closure.

Trains on the rest of the CCL will turn around at Paya Lebar and Mountbatten stations.

When that single platform is occupied by a shuttle train, incoming trains must wait for it to depart before they can turn around. This waiting process will have an impact on the whole CCL, resulting in longer intervals between trains.

At the 20 stations between HarbourFront and Paya Lebar, peak-hour train frequency will fall, from the current two minutes to about three minutes.

There will be a longer wait of 10 minutes between trains from Mountbatten towards the Dhoby Ghaut or Marina Bay stations, up from six minutes now.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has said that passengers may want to avoid the stretch between Mountbatten and Paya Lebar, and use other bus and rail connections instead.

Q Will shuttle bus services be available?