Trains resume services as SMRT probes shutdown
SINGAPORE: Trains on Singapore’s two main subway lines resumed normal service as authorities investigate the cause of a power fault that froze evening commutes across more than 50 stations and stranded thousands on Tuesday.
Trains on the North-South and East-West lines are running on normal weekday schedules at full speed, operator SMRT Corp said in a posting on Facebook yesterday.
Singaporeans vented on social media as thousands spent hours trying to get home from work on Tuesday, underscoring the island’s reliance on the train lines. Singaporeans were caught off guard as the breakdown put pressure on other modes of transport including buses, taxis and Uber Technologies Inc drivers.
SMRT Chief Executive Officer Desmond Kuek apologised to commuters and said it was too early to conclude the cause of the fault. All trains on the two lines were stalled for more than three hours on Tuesday, with full services resuming at 10.35pm, local time, after a suspected power surge caused by a faulty train triggered protective shutdowns across both networks, according to the Land Transport Authority.
Train breakdowns in Singapore, including those operated by SBS Transit Ltd, have prompted fines from LTA. In July 2014, the regulatory body fined SMRT S$1.6 million (40.2 million baht) over four train service disruptions. SBS Transit was also fined S$50,000 for one incident.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew doesn’t think a committee of inquiry is necessary and SMRT and the LTA should focus on finding the root of the problem, Channel NewsAsia reported yesterday, citing Mr Lui. Singapore formed a committee to investigate disruptions to the train service that occurred in 2011, the worst the country had experienced at the time.
SMRT’s incident rate for delays lasting longer than five minutes had decreased to 0.73 from 1.19 in the past year, Mr Kuek said in a speech at the company’s annual general meeting in Singapore on Tuesday.
“I am extremely concerned,” Mr Lui said on his Facebook page late on Tuesday. “I am sorry that so many commuters experienced massive disruptions to their journeys.”