SINGAPORE: In response to the major disruption along the East-West Line (EWL) affecting train services between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations today (25 September), Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat addressed the situation from Beijing, where he is attending the Global Sustainable Transport Forum.
Mr. Chee confirmed that there is a possibility normal train services may not resume tomorrow, as the teams from SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will assess the situation and provide updates during engineering hours tonight.
He also emphasized LTA’s commitment to conducting a thorough investigation into the incident to identify areas for improvement.
Separately, SMRT Chairman Seah Moon Ming and GCEO Ngien Hoon Ping issued apologies to commuters on Wednesday afternoon.
They explained that the disruption was caused by an “unforeseen issue” during the withdrawal of an old train, wherein a defective axle box on one of SMRT’s first-generation trains dropped.
This led to “the wheels of a bogie to come off the running rail and hit track equipment, including the third rail and point machines, leading to the power fault.”
“At SMRT, we hold the safety and well-being of our commuters and our staff as our highest priority. We fully understand the inconvenience, frustration, and delays this disruption has caused, and we deeply regret the impact it has had on your journey,” they stated.
Both the SMRT Chairman and GCEO assured that they are working diligently to restore services as quickly as possible.
“Once again, we extend our sincerest apologies for the disruption and deeply appreciate your patience, understanding, and continued trust in SMRT.”
In a Facebook post, Minister Chee confirmed that the disruption was linked to a train fault near Clementi MRT Station.
As SMRT worked to withdraw the damaged train, it caused significant damage to the tracks, including the running rails and the third rail that supplies power to the trains. Due to the extent of the damage, normal train services could not resume for the remainder of Wednesday.
To alleviate commuter inconvenience, SMRT will provide shuttle train services between Boon Lay and Jurong East (interchange with the North-South Line) and between Queenstown and Buona Vista (interchange with the Circle Line). Additionally, bridging bus services will be offered at no cost to commuters.
Acknowledging the potential impact on students taking the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE), Minister Chee stated he is in contact with the Ministry of Education and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board to prepare contingencies.
“I would like to thank commuters for their patience and also express my appreciation to our transport workers who are working hard to restore the train service as soon as possible.
EWL services resume after delays caused by stalled train near Tiong Bahru MRT station
SINGAPORE – Train commuters on a section of the East-West Line were delayed on Oct 10, after a train broke down near the Tiong Bahru station.
A first-generation westbound Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) train had stalled at about 12.30pm, and all the passengers safely disembarked at the Outram Park station, SMRT said in a Facebook post on Oct 10.
The operator said at 1.14pm that the fault was cleared, and train services were being restored.
SMRT had said earlier on Facebook that commuters had to add 25 minutes to their travel time from Outram Park to Queenstown stations. They were also to add 20 minutes when travelling from Queenstown to Bugis stations.
Free regular bus services were provided between the Outram Park and Queenstown stations.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to your commute,” said SMRT.
Project manager Norman Goh, 46, who boarded the train at the Outram Park station, said the train stopped abruptly when it was travelling towards the Tiong Bahru station.
“Strangely, the train was tilted when it stopped moving,” said Mr Goh, who was with his wheelchair-bound father.
He added that the train then travelled back to the Outram Park station.
Other commuters The Straits Times spoke to said they did not realise that there was a train disruption, but noticed that the trains took longer to arrive at their stations.
One of them, who gave her name only as Ms Farhana, said she was worried about being late for work. She had left the office at lunchtime and had planned to work from home for the rest of the day.
The 24-year-old, who works in the financial services industry, said she waited for about 10 minutes for a train from Outram Park to Tiong Bahru.
Train services on another section of the EWL were disrupted for six days after a faulty train damaged track equipment on Sept 25.
The faulty train was also a first-generation KHI train, with the Land Transport Authority saying on the same day that both the authority and SMRT would do a thorough check on these trains overnight, before they were put into service the next day.
The earlier disruption affected about 2.6 million commuters, including some students who were late for their examinations.
Student Thahira Ariska said on Oct 10 she waited for about 10 minutes for a train from her home in Boon Lay to Outram Park.
The 16-year-old said she had to take the bridging buses whenever she needed to travel towards the east during the earlier disruption, and had to leave home an hour earlier.
She said: “It’s a bit disappointing that this is happening, because I thought the train was back to normal.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/train-fault-causes-25-minute-delay-from-outram-park-to-queenstown-mrt-stations-on-ewl
East-West Line disruption: Investigations underway, LTA to appoint expert advisory panel to review findings
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has begun a probe into the six-day disruption of train services on the East-West Line between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations.
The investigations are expected to be completed in a few months, said LTA on Wednesday (Oct 2), a day after train services resumed.
The findings, to be made public, will be reviewed by a panel made up of six experts.
Investigations will be conducted across several areas.
"First, we will investigate the root cause of the axle box failure. LTA’s investigations will include a forensic study into the nature of the axle box failure, and identify any other potential contributory factors that led to the incident," said the authority.
It will also look into the procedures involving fault detection and incident handling, and determine if appropriate actions were taken.
Finally, LTA will review the service recovery and disruption mitigation effort, to "ascertain the timeliness and comprehensiveness of the responses taken" by train operator SMRT.
The Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) will also carry out an independent safety investigation on the disruption, said the Ministry of Transport.
To support its investigations, LTA will appoint an Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) to review the findings and advise on technical matters.
The panel will be chaired by Mr Malcolm Dobell, former head of train systems for London Underground, and comprises five other local and overseas experts:
• Dr Tony Lee and Mr Chen Chao, both of whom have extensive expertise in rail operations and maintenance;
• Mr Chew Tai Chong, who has expertise in rail system engineering and train design
• Professor Gan Hiong Yap, who has expertise in railway engineering
• Professor Manoj Gupta, an expert in material science with a background in mechanical engineering
In a Facebook post, SMRT said it will also review the incident and has established a committee to do so, in accordance with its internal policy.
The committee will be chaired by SMRT independent board member and former chief defence scientist, Mr Quek Gim Pew. Another independent board member, Mr Ng Chin Hwee, who is also the former CEO of SIA Engineering Company, will serve as deputy chairman.
The committee will also include independent panel members, added SMRT.
The disruption began on the morning of Sep 25 after a faulty train caused a power trip and damage to the track and other equipment.
A defective component known as an axle box had dropped from the train onto the tracks, causing a bogie - or an undercarriage with wheels - to come off the running rail between Dover and Clementi stations.
This resulted in extensive damage to the tracks and other equipment. Engineers also found damage to power cables, the third rail that supplies power and three machines used to divert trains to different tracks.
Full restoration of services, initially planned for the following Monday, had to be pushed back by a day after new cracks appeared on repaired rail segments during stress tests.
The 12 new cracks came on top of the 34 that had first developed along a 1.6km stretch between Dover and Clementi MRT stations.
For almost a week, MRT services were disrupted between nine stations from Boon Lay to Queenstown, with the stretch between Jurong East and Buona Vista the most severely affected.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/mrt-east-west-line-disruption-lta-investigation-4654356
MRT TEL train fault between Woodlands North & Lentor, free regular bus service activated
On Oct.1 , the Thomson-East Coast line experienced a train fault, reported by SMRT's social media at 5:11pm.
The fault resulted in a shuttle train service being made available between Woodlands North and Woodlands South, as well as between Woodlands South and Lentor at 5:11pm on Oct. 1.
At the time of writing, provisory service is available between Lentor and Bayshore.
SMRT is also providing a free regular bus service between Woodlands North and Lentor.
At 4:56pm on Oct. 1, SMRT reported that trains moving from Woodlands North towards Lentor were moving slower, cautioning riders to expect an additional 10 minutes of travel time.
East-West Line MRT services to fully resume on Oct 1; westbound trains to run at slower speeds
SINGAPORE – Train services along the East-West Line will resume fully on Oct 1 from the start of passenger service hours, six days after rail services between Jurong East and Buona Vista MRT stations were crippled because of severe track damage.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and rail operator SMRT said on the evening of Sept 30 that for safety reasons, a temporary speed limit of 40kmh – down from the usual 60kmh to 80kmh – will be imposed on westbound trains travelling on the repaired sections of the tracks.
The speed restriction will be in place until Oct 3, and is part of the standard process after rail replacements, they added.
“We advise commuters who are travelling to the west on the East-West Line to plan for an additional five minutes of travel time,” said LTA and SMRT.
They said their engineers and technicians had late on Sept 29 replaced 10 rail segments on which 12 new cracks were discovered.
Comprehensive testing of the track and trackside equipment was done for passenger safety.
These tests comprised functional and safety tests on the track, power supply and train signalling systems. The tracks were also subjected to load tests and ultrasound checks, followed by endurance runs using passenger trains loaded with sandbags to simulate a packed train.
The disruption has affected about 2.1 million passengers so far.
On the morning of Sept 30, LTA said that all affected rail segments, where 46 rail fractures such as cracks or chips were found – have been replaced. These spanned 2.55km of tracks. The third rail – which supplies power to trains – has also been restored.
SMRT also said its engineers had completed ultrasonic testing of welds, which refers to the inspection of welding by measuring the reflection of high-frequency sound waves.
SMRT had earlier aimed to restart services on Sept 30, but stress tests on Sept 28 found 12 cracks that were previously not visible on unreplaced segments of rail.
This meant that engineers had to replace another 10 segments of rail along the westbound track from Clementi to Ulu Pandan Depot, delaying the resumption of train services till Oct 1.
The faulty first-generation Kawasaki Heavy Industries train, which has been in service for more than 35 years, was travelling eastwards when it encountered a fault near Clementi station at about 9am on Sept 25.
It was later turned around near Queenstown station onto the westbound track, bound for Ulu Pandan Depot.
As it was being withdrawn, a defective component on the train’s undercarriage – known as an axle box – dropped onto the tracks near Dover station, and this caused the wheels of the undercarriage to run off the rail.
This wrought extensive damage to the tracks and trackside equipment as the train was being taken to the depot.
The damage triggered a power trip that stalled other trains and crippled services. The train also damaged three point machines, stretches of the third rail, as well as power cables and rail fasteners.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/east-west-line-mrt-services-to-fully-resume-on-oct-1-westbound-trains-will-run-at-slower-speeds
Even IKEA also suan siao ASS-MRT lol
Full resumption of MRT East-West Line delayed due to new cracks appearing during final checks
The MRT disruption on the East-West Line (EWL) is set to continue into a sixth day on Monday (Sept 30), after stress tests on Saturday night saw new cracks appearing.
Full train services are now targeted to be restored on Tuesday, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT in a joint briefing on Sunday.
Train services on the western side of EWL have been disrupted since Wednesday, after a faulty train caused a power trip.
The initial target was Monday, but during the stress tests, 12 new rail cracks appeared on unreplaced rail segments along a different 800m stretch between Clementi station and Ulu Pandan Depot.
LTA and SMRT said these 10 segments had been weakened by Wednesday morning's faulty train.
Therefore, an extra day will be needed for the segments to be replaced, before more stress tests tomorrow - including using trains filled with sandbags to simulate real-world conditions - to ensure the MRT's safety.
"We thank commuters for your patience as we work on restoring our MRT system," said Lam Sheau Kai, president of SMRT Trains.
"The safety of our staff and commuters is our topmost priority. We seek your understanding as we continue to work closely with LTA to restore train service."
Free regular and bridging bus services between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations, as well as shuttle train services between Boon Lay and Jurong East stations, and between Queenstown and Buona Vista stations, remain available for commuters.
Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat also shared the update on Facebook.
“Weather permitting, we expect the rail replacements to be completed tonight, followed by further testing to continue for most of tomorrow,” he added.
In a Facebook post on Saturday evening, SMRT had said that works on the damaged tracks and related equipment between Dover and Clementi stations were "fully completed".
The whole of Sunday would see functional and safety tests, including running trains on the tracks at different speeds.
The three damaged track point machines - which direct trains onto different tracks - and other rail equipment had been successfully recovered and passed functionality checks earlier on Friday.
Train services between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations have been suspended since Wednesday morning, after a component of a faulty train's wheel structure came off near Dover station while on its way to the depot.
This caused some wheels on the third carriage to drop out of position, which led to 34 rail breaks along a 1.6km stretch and a 150m stretch of track.
It also led to a power trip, disrupting train services from Boon Lay to Queenstown stations.
https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/full-resumption-mrt-east-west-line-delayed-due-new-cracks-appearing-during-final-checks