Changi Airport Skytrain Resumes With On-Call Services Between Terminal 1 And Terminal 3 (Public Area)

The Changi Airport Skytrain services were reduced and suspended in stages with the suspension of Terminal 2 operations and Circuit Breaker period. On my random visit to Jewel for dinner on 27 July 2020, I found that the public Skytrain service between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 has resumed without fanfare.

The new operating hours of the Changi Airport Skytrain service is from 8.00am to 11.59pm. With a lower-than-off-peak demand with almost no flying passengers, the Changi Airport Skytrain now operates on an On-Call Mode according to actual demand.

The On-Call Mode is part of the 3 service patterns which Mitsubishi Heavy Industries allows to operate for the Changi Airport Skytrain, the other 2 regularly pre-COVID used being the Peak Mode and Off-Peak Mode. This is probably the first time that Changi Airport is running the Mitsubishi Crystal Mover Skytrain on the Off-Peak Mode, which was previously commonplace on the Adtranz C-100 Skytrain system.

Someone on the platform had already pressed the on-call button as I arrived, and the train doors opened as per normal.

The on-call button can be found on alternate platform screen doors.

When lit, the train has been called, and the door will be open.

I guess that if the button is not pressed and the train arrives empty, the doors would remain closed.

Back on the Changi Airport Skytrain after almost 4 months.

Alternate seats have Safe Distancing Stickers pasted on them.

Heading on to Terminal 3 on the route that I usually take to and from Jewel pre-COVID, saving me the walk on the Jewel link bridge.

How To Call For The Skytrain

Press the on-call button beside the platform screen doors to call and board the Changi Airport Skytrain. This information is shown on all Skytrain information screens.

Rather than showing the train arrival time, the platform information screen now shows the instructions to call for the Skytrain since the train’s arrival is now dependent on you to call for it.

The on-call button is not lit when no one has called for the Skytrain yet.

Press the on-call button to call for the Skytrain.

The on-call button will light up once the button has been pressed.

For now, only the Terminal 1 – Terminal 3 Public Skytrain Line has resumed. All other services including the Terminal 1 – Terminal 3 Transit Skytrain Line remain suspended.

Signs for the Terminal 2 Skytrain services have been removed.

With not many flights now, there are sufficient screens on the Flight Information Display System (FIDS) to display Skytrain and other information instead.

While not many will be taking the Skytrain to get to a flight now, and definitely not when coming in to Singapore from a flight, being issued a 14-day SHN and transported directly to a dedicated SHN facility, the Skytrain passenger load would definitely not be at pre-COVID levels – but if you’re a regular person in Singapore, there is now a better way to head to Jewel rather than walking on the link bridge from the MRT station at Terminal 3.