The crowd, or lackof, at The Star Vista mall following the train disruptions. A cafe in the mall which usually sees large crowds at lunchtime is empty on a Friday.Disruptions to SMRT's train services on the East-West line for the past five days have impacted not just commuters, but some businesses around the affected stations as well.
Another dessert shop employee, Alice, 18, estimated that business has dropped by up to 60 to 70 per cent in the past two days as the shop will usually be full of customers at lunchtime. In comparison, there were hardly any customers at the time. Said an employee at Peach Garden restaurant, which saw three customers cancelling their reservations since the incident: "Perhaps it's now less inconvenient to get here as many of them might be working from home."
Some operators surmised that the reason may be that commuters who wish to catch the shuttle services would still have to head to the station. Merchants at the J Connect heartland shopping area in Jurong East have also noticed a reduction in footfall.