TNS Times takes a look at how Singapore’s longest-ever MRT disruption unfolded.
SUMMARY: A component fell off a faulty first-generation EWL train, causing cracks in the track and damaging trackside components.
The faulty train caused cracks along 2.55km of tracks on the East-West Line. (Image: LTA, TNS Times)
On 25 Sep, a first-generation Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 (KHI) MRT train travelling from Jurong East station to Clementi station encountered a problem. The eastbound train detrained passengers at Clementi station, before continuing onwards to Queenstown station to switch to the westbound track.
After departing Queenstown station, the train used the turnaround point to access the westbound track, heading towards Ulu Pandan Depot.
Near Dover station, a defective component of the train’s wheel set - known as an axle box - dropped onto the tracks. This caused some of the wheels to come off the rails and hit trackside equipment while they were moving, damaging the third rail as well as three point machines and rail fasteners. The third rail supplies power to the tracks while point machines allow the train to switch between different tracks. The train eventually stopped moving near Ulu Pandan Depot.
The faulty train, pictured here derailed on the track outside Ulu Pandan Depot, dropped its axle box onto the tracks, causing the wheels to come off the rails and hit trackside equipment. (Image: Wikimedia Commons/Mrtsginfo, CC BY-SA 4.0)
The damage caused a power trip between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations at about 9.25a.m., halting train services on both bounds between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations. Another train near Clementi station was stalled because of the power trip, forcing the 850 passengers on board to walk along the tracks to reach the station.
At 9.28a.m., free regular bus services were made available at designated bus stops at each of the affected stations. Later, at 9.46a.m., free bridging buses began operating between the affected stations.
At 9.52a.m., rail operator SMRT alerted the public to the train fault on its Facebook page. It added at 12.20p.m. that the train, which had been in service for more than 35 years, emitted smoke while returning to Ulu Pandan Depot. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Facebook that based on an early assessment, the faulty train “caused damage to the tracks, including the running rails and the third rail supplying power to the train” while being withdrawn to the depot.
At 2.49p.m., LTA said that train services would not be available on the affected sector for at least the rest of the day, due to the extent of the track damage. It added that more time may be required for repairs and that “SMRT and LTA will make (a) further assessment whether passenger service can resume on Sept 26” during engineering hours that night.
At 4.52p.m., SMRT said on its Facebook page that it had commenced shuttle train services between Boon Lay and Jurong East stations, as well as Queenstown and Buona Vista stations.
At 9.20p.m., SMRT announced that there would be no train service the following day (26 Sep) to allow its engineers to repair the point machines and third rail on the affected sector. It added that free regular bus services would be made available between Boon Lay and Queenstown stations, while bridging bus services would run between Buona Vista and Jurong East stations.
Overnight, LTA and SMRT conducted a thorough check of all the first-generation Kawasaki Heavy Industries trains, before they were put into service the next day (26 Sep).
On 26 Sep, SMRT and LTA said that they were working towards a partial restoration of train services on 27 Sep, with a train shuttle service running every 20 minutes between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations.
This plan was later abandoned on 28 Sep, with SMRT saying that they had “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”. SMRT added that it was working towards full restoration of services by 30 Sep.
However, on 29 Sep, LTA and SMRT said that train service could only resume on 1 Oct. They said: “During stress testing, 12 new cracks that were previously not visible appeared on unreplaced rail segments along the section of westbound tracks from Clementi station to Ulu Pandan Depot. These cracks were due to the rail segments being weakened by the damaged train when it was travelling back to the depot on Wednesday (25 Sep) morning.”
LTA and SMRT added that they needed extra time to replace the 10 affected rail segments, and would conduct more tests on 30 Sep for commuter safety.
On 30 Sep, SMRT and LTA jointly announced that normal train services would resume on 1 Oct. They said that there would be temporary speed restrictions on westbound trains travelling on the replaced tracks, as part of a standard procedure following rail replacements. The lower speed limit of 40km/h would be imposed for 3 days, until 3 Oct. Trains usually travel at speeds of around 60km/h to 80km/h.
Following the disruption, LTA announced on 2 Oct that it would conduct investigations on the root cause of the axle box failure, the fault detection and incident handling procedures, and SMRT’s service recovery and disruption mitigation measures. It added that it had appointed an expert panel to review the findings and advise on technical matters.
The same day, SMRT shared that it had appointed a committee to review the disruption in line with its internal policy.
This disruption is the longest in the MRT’s 37-year history. The second-longest was a five-day halt in train services between Joo Koon and Tuas Link in November 2017, when two trains collided due to a signalling fault.
On 10 Oct, at about 12.30p.m., a first-generation westbound KHI train stalled near Tiong Bahru station due to a train fault. Services between Queenstown and Bugis stations were halted for nearly one and a half hours. SMRT said that this incident, involving a train-borne electrical fault, was unrelated to the 25 Sep incident.
Further Reading:
The EWL disruption: How did it happen? LTA/Facebook
Faulty C151 Train Causes Extensive Damage & Disruption to EWL Services Land Transport Guru
East-West Line MRT disruption: How a faulty train left a trail of destruction The Straits Times (Interactive)
Written by Goh Jun Ying
(TNS Times Issue 9)