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SINGAPORE: A power cable insulation failure and an attempt to restore power to two MRT lines without “isolating the fault first” led to disruptions in train services on Wednesday night (Oct. 14), SMRT said. Thursday.
The transport operator apologized Thursday for the disruption during rush hour traffic Wednesday night.
The disruption affected train services from Woodlands to Jurong East on the North-South line, Queenstown to Gul Circle on the East-West line and HarbourFront to Serangoon on the Circle line.
Some travelers had to walk on the tracks to return to the station, while the bus stops were packed with travelers looking for alternative ways to continue their journey.
Passengers on a train near Kranji on the North-South Line to Woodlands were evacuated after a power failure disrupted MRT service on several lines on October 14, 2020 (Photo: Julie Chan).
Crowds waiting for buses at Clementi MRT station after a power failure disrupted train services on several lines on October 14, 2020 (Photo: Ang Hwee Min).
Train service on the Circle Line resumed at approximately 8.40 p.m., while services on the North-South and East-West lines resumed at approximately 10.35 p.m.
The outage began with a break in the insulation of a power cable between the Tuas Link and Tuas West Road stations, SMRT said, citing its preliminary findings.
A circuit breaker at the Tuas West Road station “should have tripped” to isolate the fault, but it did not, SMRT said in its press release. This caused the electrical system of the North-South and East-West lines to go off.
To restore power to these lines, an attempt was made to draw power from the Buona Vista intake substation.
But this was done “without first isolating the fault”, resulting in an interruption of the power supply to the Circle line, as the Buona Vista intake substation also serves the Circle line.
“The insulation fault has been identified and isolated and the faulty circuit breaker component has been replaced,” SMRT said, adding that train services were operating normally Thursday.
