Train disruption on EWL to last several more days; SMRT aims to restore services on Sep 30

THE disruption of train services between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on the East-West Line will last for several more days, with rail operator SMRT aiming to restore services fully on Sep 30.

Rail operator SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had announced earlier on Thursday (Sep 26) that they aimed to partially restore services on Sep 27 by running a shuttle train service that will go up and down the affected four-station stretch every 20 minutes.

Shelving this plan late on Sep 26, LTA and SMRT said they had tried their best to make the shuttle service option work by speeding up repairs on one of the tracks.

“We have since determined that it can be done, but it would mean slowing down the repairs on the parallel damaged rail, as repairs cannot be done when the shuttle train service is in operation,” they said.

On balance, it is “better to prioritise repair and expedite restoring full service earlier” rather than run the shuttle service, they added.

“SMRT is aiming to restore full service on Monday, and running the shuttle train could risk delaying full restoration by at least a few days.”

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On Sep 25, a faulty train that was withdrawn from service and was on its way back to a depot caused extensive damage to tracks and trackside equipment near the Clementi and Dover stations.

Singapore’s second-longest rail disruption affected about 874,000 passengers over two days – some 358,000 passengers on Sep 25, and an estimated 516,000 on Sep 26.

It was triggered by a first-generation Kawasaki Heavy Industries train. The eastbound train encountered a fault near Clementi station at about 9 am on Sep 25, and all passengers disembarked at that station.

SMRT withdrew the train from service by turning it around onto the westbound tracks.

A defective component of the train’s wheel set, known as an axle box, dropped onto the tracks near Dover station while the train was returning to Ulu Pandan Depot, which is between the Clementi and Jurong East stations.

The axle box was on the third carriage of the six-carriage train, which has been in service for more than 35 years.

This caused the wheels of one of the carriage’s two bogies to come off the rail on which trains run. A bogie is a structure below the carriage with two sets of wheels, and each wheel set has two axle boxes attached to it.

This is the first time such an incident has happened on SMRT’s trains.

With one bogie derailed, the train severely damaged the tracks and equipment on the tracks as it was being taken to the depot.

The damage it wrought caused a power trip at about 9.25 am, stalling other trains and crippling services across nine stations between Boon Lay and Queenstown.

One train that stalled near Clementi station was carrying about 850 passengers, who had to disembark on the tracks and were guided back to the station platform.

Engineers later found 34 rail breaks, such as cracks or chips, along 1.6 km of tracks between the Clementi and Dover stations after overnight checks. The train also damaged three point machines that are used to divert trains to different tracks, stretches of the third rail on the eastbound track that supplies power to trains, as well as power cables and rail fasteners.

The third rail serving the track into Ulu Pandan Depot is linked to the same power supply that serves the third rail on the eastbound track. Hence, when the defective train damaged the third rail while entering the depot, it also tripped the power supply to the eastbound track.

Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, who is in China on a work trip, said engineers from LTA and SMRT have been working through the night to assess the damaged tracks and equipment and carry out repairs.

“As the damage is very extensive, they need more time to complete the repairs and then... carry out tests and checks to ensure commuter safety before fully restoring train services,” he said in a video message posted on Facebook.

Chee added: “I would like to offer my sincere apologies to all our commuters for the disruption. Our workers are doing their best to safely restore train services as soon as possible.”

LTA and SMRT added that SMRT’s engineers and technicians have been working continuously since Sep 25 to restore and replace the damaged tracks and equipment. The faulty train has also been towed back to the depot.

The shuttle service between Jurong East and Buona Vista will ply only along the eastbound track, which is less severely damaged than the westbound track.

Besides this service, SMRT will continue to operate shuttle train services between the Buona Vista and Queenstown stations, and between the Jurong East and Boon Lay stations.

About 80 double-deck buses have also been deployed to provide free bridging services for affected passengers between the Jurong East and Buona Vista stations, and vice versa.

In addition, 620 ground staff from LTA, SMRT, transport operators SBS Transit and Tower Transit as well as police officers managed the crowds during the morning peak period on Sep 26.

LTA and SMRT also carried out functionality checks on the axle boxes of all Kawasaki trains before these were put in service, and all passed the checks.

This is the third rail disruption in a space of nine days.

On Sep 17, a power fault disrupted services across the entire Circle Line (CCL), which SMRT also runs. The next day, a power trip disrupted the power supply to the entire 35 km CCL after a fire broke out at a rail depot.

The longest train disruption on record was the stoppage of train services between the Joo Koon and Tuas Link stations from Nov 15 to 20, 2017, after a software glitch in the signalling system resulted in two trains colliding at Joo Koon.

The suspension of train services between Joo Koon and Gul Circle stations was later extended till mid-2018, when the East-West Line switched over to a new signalling system.