SINGAPORE – Services on the Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (BPLRT) will start 90 minutes later than usual for the remaining Sundays of this year, rail operator SMRT has said.

Services on the 10.5km, 14-station BPLRT typically start at 5.30am. But from Nov 12 till Dec 31, services on Sunday will begin at 7am instead.

"With the later opening on Sundays, our maintenance teams will have 1.5 more hours on top of the existing 2 hours every night. This is crucial as it allows our engineers to undertake heavy maintenance works and expedites scheduled replacement works," SMRT said in a Facebook post dated Nov 5.

Shuttle bus services along the LRT route will be available for affected commuters.

SMRT and the Government have been mulling various options to address the upgrading needs of the ageing BPLRT, which has been dogged by problems.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said last month that an extensive shutdown for major upgrading work was among the options being evaluated for the BPLRT.

"If we want to do serious upgrading — essentially to close it down so that we can re-do the whole tracks and so on, so that we don't have these ups and downs. And we're evaluating that proposition," he told a press briefing.

But the minister added that he would be "hard put" to take this decision, as it could mean residents going without the LRT service for three years.

The rail network, which Mr Khaw described as "afterthought built under political pressure", last suffered a massive six hour disruption on the morning of Sept 9.

Two broken rail support brackets had caused two trains to be stalled between Phoenix and Bukit Panjang Stations.