Train service resumes on North East Line after stations hit by blackout
SINGAPORE: Commuters on the North East Line found themselves stranded on Tuesday morning (Oct 13) as a blackout stalled trains for more than half an hour.
The power trip happened in the midst of morning rush hour at about 7.50am. At least four stations – Hougang, Kovan, Serangoon and Woodleigh – were hit by the blackout.
Ms Desrie Goh, 27, a mechanical engineer, was at Hougang MRT station when the blackout occured.
"I was at the MRT platform when the blackout occurred around 7.50am," said Ms Goh. "Despite the station blackout, the train was still operating so I stayed on at the platform and waited for the next train. It didn't come after waiting for around 10 minutes."
"The station was dark, stuffy, and overcrowded."
Ms Goh then said that an announcement was made by the station staff to close the station and halt train services.
"Everyone started to rush to climb the stairs to get out of the station," said Ms Goh. "The bus interchange and the bus stops nearby were overcrowded with people."
She took a bus to Eunos MRT station and then took the train to Redhill, where she ended up being late for work by 50 minutes.
In a Twitter post at 7.58am, SBS Transit said that train service on the North East Line has been delayed due to a power fault. Commuters should expect additional travelling time of about 15 minutes, it said.
The transport operator posted another tweet at 8.06am saying that train service between Farrer Park and Hougang stations has been disrupted. Free bus bridging services are available at designated bus stops, it said.
At 8.28am, SBS Transit said full train service had resumed. However, stations are still crowded and delays can be expected, it said, adding that free bus services are still available.
Irate commuters took to social media to vent their frustration. Many complained the stations were stuffy and packed with crowds, and several said there were long queues at bus stops and taxi stands near the affected stations.
Channel NewAsia spoke to SBS Transit staff at Serangoon station, who said that the "crowd size was back to normal at around 9.25am" and that the platform was "completely crowded before that".
Outside Serangoon MRT station, there was a queue that stretched for about 20 metres at the taxi stand.
Mdm Amnah Hashin, 61, a business owner, said that the queue was there when she arrived at 9.10am and she was late for a meeting.
Ms Nurul Sakinah Mohamed, 18, a student, said: "We were heading to ICA from home so we took a bus to Serangoon station but we heard the NEL Line was disrupted at Hougang. When we went down to the station, it was too crowded so we called for a cab instead because we were late for our appointment."
- CNA/cy
Photo from LTA Facebook