Trains Delay/Disruptions Updates
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[NSL] Train service has resumed. Trains are travelling at a slower speed due to an earlier train fault. Free bus service is still available.
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New #MRT projects and upgrades to existing lines are on track says #LTA http://str.sg/ZRkG
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Train fault caused slower travel from Yishun to Marina South Pier MRT stations this morning http://str.sg/ZRxa
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Train service on North-South Line resumes after 2-hour disruption
SINGAPORE: Train service on the North-South Line was disrupted for more than two hours on Wednesday morning (Nov 25) due to a power fault, SMRT said.
The rail operator said in a Twitter post at 5.54am that train service was not available between Yishun and Marina South Pier in both directions. About 20 minutes later, it posted an update saying that train service was not available between Yishun and Bishan.
Free bus services were activated between Yishun and Marina South Pier, SMRT said.
At 6.57am, SMRT posted another tweet advising passengers travelling towards Orchard and Marina South Pier from Yishun and Woodlands to travel via Jurong East Station or other lines.
The rail operator said in an update at 7.26am that more buses have been deployed.
At 8.11am, SMRT said train service had resumed after engineers restored power at Ang Mo Kio station. Free bus services ended at about 9.45am.
Several commuters reported seeing fire engines and ambulances outside Ang Mo Kio MRT station. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said a fire occurred at the station at 5.50am, and the fire was put out with two 9kg fire extinguishers. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation, SCDF said.
It was not immediately clear if the fire was related to the train disruption.
DISRUPTION NOT RELATED TO JUL 7 BREAKDOWN
Speaking to reporters at Ang Mo Kio MRT station, Mr Lee Ling Wee, managing director of SMRT trains, “deeply apologised” to commuters. He said Wednesday’s disruption was not related to the Jul 7 breakdown, which crippled the North-South and East-West Lines for more than three hours during the evening peak period.
Land Transport Authority (LTA) Chief Executive Chew Men Leong said the train disruption on Wednesday was a “localised” one. “We worked very closely with SMRT to activate free bus boarding and also called in additional resources from SBS Transit to beef up support. Now what we’re trying to do is establish the root cause,” he said.
In a statement to the media on Wednesday, LTA said preliminary investigations indicate that a power breaker at Ang Mo Kio MRT station was damaged. The exact cause of the incident is under investigation, it added.
STUDENTS, COMMUTERS AFFECTED
Wednesday's breakdown, which happened on the day of the A Level English Literature paper, comes nearly a month after a two-hour breakdown on the North East Line caused some students taking key examinations to be late.
LTA said the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board was informed of the train disruption. "SEAB has given candidates the assurance that they will not be penalised for being late and they will be given the full duration for the examination," it said.
The National University of Singapore, where students were scheduled to take a mathematics paper at 9am, delayed the examination by 30 minutes due to the disruption.
Irate commuters posted photos of crowded train stations and bus-stops on social media.
MP LEE BEE WAH PLEDGES TO PUSH FOR BETTER CONTINGENCY PLANNING
In a Facebook post on Wednesday morning, Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah expressed her disappointment at the disruption to train service.
"Residents told me that the replacement buses were full by the time they left the interchange, so people waiting at other stops couldn't board for up to an hour. This meant it was really packed at bus-stops," she said, adding that at a bus stop opposite Khatib MRT, the crowd was standing on the road.
"While the traffic marshals should have prevented this dangerous situation from happening, I hope residents can be more safety conscious," she said. "I will push for the transport companies to implement better contingency planning."
- CNA/de/cy/dl
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Train disruptions in Singapore: Worrying pattern cannot be ignored
SINGAPORE - Wednesday's (Nov 25) rail disruption along the North-South Line, which affected tens of thousands of commuters during the morning peak, is worrying on two counts.
First, it involved yet another electrical fire. Fires in a mass transit system, no matter how small, can have catastrophic consequences. And there has been one too many recently.
Earlier this year, a circuit-breaker fire shut down the Bukit Panjang LRT system for a day. In 2013, a short-circuit fire broke out near Newton, engulfing the station in smoke and disrupting service for two hours in the morning peak.
In 2004, a fire broke out in the tunnel near Newton, apparently also caused by a short circuit.
Wednesday's fire on the North-South Line was said to have been ignited by a flashover at a tie-breaker (a kind of circuit breaker) in Ang Mo Kio MRT station. The blaze was put out by the Singapore Civil Defence Force at 5.50am.
A flashover is an unintended discharge of current, which can leap across voids. It can happen when a system is stressed with a higher-than-usual electrical load.
Was the system under a higher-than-usual load, with additional trains and newer and heavier ones? SMRT would not comment.
There was a strong suspicion that a heavier-than-usual electrical load had caused the Bukit Panjang LRT fire. On the other hand, Wednesday's incident happened before service started for the day, so load could not have been the likely cause.
According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), disruptions caused by power and trackside faults more than doubled between 2011 and last year.
In 2011, they accounted for eight incidents or 2 per cent of all disruptions. Last year, they were responsible for 16 incidents or 5 per cent of incidents.
The unprecedented networkwide breakdown on July 7 this year was also caused by an electrical fault - although there was no fire.
Why is the system experiencing such a surge in electrical faults? If this electrical problem is not tackled, a tunnel fire might one day happen with serious consequences.
The second worrying thing about Wednesday's breakdown was what the LTA chief executive said in its aftermath.
Mr Chew Men Leong, talking to reporters at Ang Mo Kio station on Wednesday morning, described the incident as a "localised" one.
Although Mr Chew was speaking off the cuff, the comment downplays the gravity of the situation unnecessarily.
Rail breakdowns are rarely "localised", unless it is a glitch on the Sentosa monorail.
A breakdown on an MRT line, which can account for one million trips a day, impacts not just people in a particular stretch. It affects commuters both upstream and downstream of the affected stretch. In fact, it can reverberate across the entire rail network, as transfers are disrupted and train platforms become overcrowded - often in an instant.
It impacts bus commuters, taxi availability and road traffic as affected commuters spill out of stations onto the streets in search of transport alternatives.
A rail breakdown - especially during peak hours - easily impacts tens of thousands of people. A country's productivity is affected as a consequence, not to mention students who are late for exams.
What Mr Chew said on Wednesday morning about SMRT being able to recover from the situation quickly was spot on, though. City-bound trains on the North-South Line were running at intervals as short as one minute after the incident. This was possible because drivers overrode the system and drove the trains manually.
This helped to clear the crowd quickly. Checks by The Straits Times at Bishan interchange found that trains went from fully packed at 9.15am to having ample standing room by 9.30am.
Trains on the adjoining Circle Line were running at intervals of as short as two minutes, even though the electronic notice board said four. That helped to dissipate the crowd on the platform that was filled continuously by people transferring from the North-South Line.
In this instance, it is clear the operator managed its recovery process well, and that mitigated the impact of the breakdown somewhat.
The challenge is, of course, to prevent a repeat of such breakdowns. Although the number of breakdowns can never be zero, the rising incidence of electrical faults and fires forms a worrying pattern that cannot be ignored.
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17th December 2015
No train service between Joo Koon & Boon Lay in both directions due to power fault.
Additional 10mins traveling time between Boon Lay & Jurong East in both directions due to power fault.
Free bus & shuttle bus service are available between Joo Koon and Jurong East.
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Train delays on East-West Line due to faulty track circuit: SMRT
SINGAPORE: A faulty track circuit was to blame for delays in train service along the East-West Line for two consecutive days, said transport operator SMRT.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Dec 30), SMRT said the glitch caused trains along the East-West Line travel at a slower speed on Wednesday morning. "As a result, some trains heading towards Joo Koon were turned around at Clementi and Jurong East in the direction of Pasir Ris to serve peak hour commuters travelling towards the city," SMRT said.
It added that the same track circuit on the eastbound track between Jurong East and Clementi developed a fault intermittently on Tuesday morning.
"Trains travelled at a slower speed as a safety precaution, as recommended by safety protocols. Repair work was carried out yesterday to fix the track circuit," SMRT said, adding that its engineering staff would investigate the fault at the close of traffic on Wednesday night.
The track circuit is used to track and control the speed of trains moving along the network.
SMRT alerted commuters at 7.49am on Wednesday morning on Twitter to add 10 minutes to their travelling time from Joo Koon to Clementi towards Pasir Ris.
Later at 8.25am, it advised commuters to add 15 minutes to their travelling time along the same stretch. Two minutes later, it said commuters should expect an additional 20 minutes' travelling time, while at 8.55am the public transport operator said there would be an additional 30 minutes' travelling time from Joo Koon to Clementi towards Pasir Ris due to the track fault.
At 9.32am, SMRT said the track fault had been rectified, and that trains between Pioneer and Jurong East were moving slower due to earlier congestion.
- CNA/dl
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[NSL]: No train service between #Admiralty and #Kranji in both directions. Free bus and bus bridging are available.
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Bukit Panjang LRT resumes full service after disruption
SINGAPORE: The Bukit Panjang LRT system has resumed full service, five hours after train service in one direction was disrupted on Friday (Jan 22).
SMRT announced that Train Service B towards Choa Chu Kang via Petir was down at 5.54am, and warned commuters to expect additional travel time.
Train Service A towards Choa Chu Kang via Senja was still running, and free public and shuttle buses were available, the operator said.
A Bukit Panjang resident, Ms Loh, said that the train was down even after 8am, and the bus stop to board the free bus was crowded. The crowds dissipated after the morning rush hour, and when twitter user Kai tweeted about the free bus services at 9.29am, his picture of a bus appeared to have only a few passengers.
Other commuters also took to social media to comment on the way the train disruption was communicated.
Syahir Syazwan wrote at 7.02am that the train service's status was still listed as "normal", while a user with the name "The Dead Cockroach" said the announcement of the disruption was only made in English, and was concerned that there were elderly passengers who were unaware of the situation.
SMRT said on twitter that full service resumed at 10.43am.
- CNA/mz
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Train service resumes on East-West Line after delay
SINGAPORE: Train service on the East-West Line (EWL) was delayed during the morning rush-hour on Thursday (Jan 28) due to a train fault.
At 8.03am, SMRT posted a tweet about the delay, telling commuters travelling towards Joo Koon station to expect additional travelling time of about 15 minutes from Outram Park to Jurong East.
Less than 10 minutes later, it tweeted that commuters should expect an additional 20 minutes travelling time from Aljunied to Jurong East stations. The delay was caused by a train fault, SMRT said in the tweet. It later revised the travelling time to an additional 25 minutes.
At 8.36am, SMRT said train service had resumed, although commuters should expect longer travel times due to crowds at the stations.
Irate commuters took to social media to complain about the delay.
Mr P Antony Fernandez said a train at Outram Park station heading towards Jurong East remained stationary for more than 10 minutes. The delay was caused by a train fault at Commonwealth station, he said.
Mr Vincent Li, who was at Boon Lay station, said gates were closed due to overcrowding.
- CNA/cy
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Power la Sk/pg LRT. Never brake down one.
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UPDATE: Due to a train fault recurred, pleases expect 20 minutes additional traveling time from #JurongEast to #JooKoon.
Free bus and bus bridging service are available at affected stations between #JurongEast and #JooKoon.
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Circle Line service resumes after train fault causes delays
SINGAPORE: Commuters on the Circle Line faced delays of more than 30 minutes after a train fault occurred on Thursday (Mar 3).
According to operator SMRT's first post on Twitter at 11.39am, commuters were advised to add 20 minutes to their travelling time between Stadum station and Dhoby Ghaut/Marina Bay stations. It subsequently revised its advisory to between Paya Lebar and Dhoby Ghaut/Marina Bay MRT stations.
"We are working to recover service," it said in a tweet at 12.10pm.
According to a Channel NewsAsia reporter on the ground, SMRT staff said the fault occurred near Nicoll Highway station.
Train services in both directions resumed by 12.23pm, although trains and platforms remain crowded, according to SMRT.
- CNA/kk
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Train service resumes on East-West Line after track fault
SINGAPORE: Train service on the East-West Line (EWL) was delayed during the morning rush-hour on Friday (Mar 18) due to a track fault.
At 7.09am, SMRT posted a tweet about the delay, telling commuters travelling towards Joo Koon station to expect additional travelling time of 15 minutes from Tanah Merah to Aljunied.
Half an hour later, it tweeted that commuters should expect an additional 20 minutes travelling time. The delay was caused by a train fault, SMRT said in the tweet.
At 9.05am, SMRT posted another tweet telling commuters heading from Pasir Ris station towards Aljunied station to expect additional travelling time of 25 minutes. It later revised this to 30 minutes.
In an update at 9.32am, SMRT said the track fault near Paya Lebar station has been resolved, but trains were still travelling at a slower speed due to congestion. Commuters should expect additional travelling time of 20 minutes from Tanah Merah to Aljunied, it said.
At 10.11am, SMRT said the track fault had been cleared and train service was back to normal.
- CNA/cy
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JUST IN:
[CCL] No train service between Kent Ridge & Harbourfront due to signal fault.
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[CCL]Expect additonal 15mins travelling time between #KentRidge and #Harbourfront due to signal fault.
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No train service between #TanahMerah and #PasirRis in both directions due to incident on track. Expected resumption time: 12.15pm.
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Train service on part of East-West Line will resume at 1.15pm, @SMRT_Singapore says
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LRT passengers forced to walk on track after train fault in Sengkang
SINGAPORE: Some passengers found themselves walking on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) tracks in near-darkness in Sengkang on Tuesday evening (Mar 29), due to a train fault.
Off-duty cameraman Rajamohann Alrum Murugaiah said he was on the train travelling from Sengkang station to Renjong station at about 7pm when it stopped suddenly about 150m to 200m from Renjong station. He said the lights and ventilation fans went out for about five minutes, before coming on again.
SBS Transit first announced the disruption on Twitter at 7.57pm, saying there was no service on the East Loop of the LRT, and that free bridging bus services were available. It later stated at 8.22pm that services on the West (outer loop) of the LRT were also unavailable.
At 8.31pm, SBS Transit said full LRT service resumed.
Mr Rajamohann said while there were announcements on the train about the disruption, SBS staff only arrived about 20 minutes after the breakdown. They tried but failed to restart the LRT train, before two or three staff finally asked passengers to alight from the carriage and guided them towards Renjong station at around 7.30pm to 7.40pm.
There were about 30 people inside the train, but Mr Rajamohann said he did not observe any panic among his fellow passengers.
"It was after work ... I think they were just tired and frustrated," he said.
- CNA/mz
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Monday's rail breakdown due to power fault in western part of North-South, East-West Lines http://str.sg/4ZDs
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2nd May 2016
Due to a train fault, there is no train service between Joo Koon & Boon Lay in both bounds. Expected resumption time will be 4.05pm
