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 from the start of passenger service hours on Oct 1, 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 will be imposed on westbound trains travelling on the repaired sections of the tracks. Trains typically travel at speeds of between 60kmh and 80kmh.

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.

This is not the first time trains have had to reduce their speed. In January 2020, trains to and from Changi Airport had to slow down for several days,

after a crack was found on the track

near the station.

LTA and SMRT said their engineers and technicians had late on Sept 29

replaced 10 rail segments,

after stress tests uncovered new cracks along an affected stretch of rail damaged by a faulty train on Sept 25.

All affected rail segments, where 46 fractures such as cracks or chips were found, have been replaced. These span 2.55km of tracks near Dover and Clementi stations.

Comprehensive testing of the track and trackside equipment was done for passenger safety.

These tests included functional and safety tests on the tracks, power supply and train signalling systems. The tracks were also subjected to load tests and ultrasound checks, followed by endurance checks using passenger trains loaded with sandbags to simulate a packed train.

The major disruption, which began on the morning of Sept 25, affected more than 2.1 million passengers from Sept 25 to 29.

No figure for affected commuters was available for Sept 30, but it is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands. Among those affected on Sept 30 were seven candidates

who were late for their Primary School Leaving Examination and N-level exams

.

This is Singapore’s second-longest rail disruption on record. Train services were halted between Joo Koon and Tuas Link in November 2017 due to

a train collision caused by a software glitch

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

In a video message on Sept 30, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat expressed appreciation to the workers involved in the repair, inspection and testing works, as well as those on the front line.

He also thanked commuters for their patience and understanding, and for giving workers the time to safely and thoroughly complete the repairs and tests.

“I am also very heartened to see some of our members of public and our commuters penning words of appreciation for our workers, or providing them with food and drinks, to thank them for their hard work,” Mr Chee added in the message posted on Facebook.

At around 10.20am on Sept 30, The Straits Times saw non-profit organisation Temasek Foundation and supermarket chain FairPrice delivering food items to SMRT staff at Jurong East station. Each pack contained three coffee sachets, an isotonic drink, biscuits and chocolate.

Ms Woon Saet Nyoon, head of community networks and partnerships at Temasek Foundation, said the organisation provided around 500 food packs to staff at Buona Vista, Clementi and Jurong East stations, with the help of FairPrice.

These food packs were given to transport workers to show appreciation for their tireless work to restore train services, she added.

LTA and SMRT also thanked police officers and volunteers for helping affected passengers.

SMRT had earlier aimed to restart services on Sept 30 but was unable to do so

after discovering 12 new cracks

on some segments of rail on Sept 28. This meant that engineers had to replace another 10 rail segments along the westbound track from Clementi to Ulu Pandan Depot, delaying the resumption of train services.

On Sept 30, there was still confusion and frustration among passengers affected by the disruption.

Madam Saudah Awang, 60, thought that train services would resume on Sept 30.

But the customer service officer who lives in Bukit Gombak ended up running late for work. She had to take a private-hire car ride from Jurong East at about 8.45am to try to reach her workplace at Tuas Checkpoint by 9.15am.

Madam Saudah told ST on the evening of Sept 30 that the full resumption of services is “good news”, and she will leave home 15 minutes earlier than usual on Oct 1 to give herself enough time to reach her workplace.

Mr Prem Shekar, who works in cyber security, said he would stick to taking the bus from his home in Punggol to Jurong East station on Oct 1, before getting on another bus to his workplace in Buona Vista. This is in case there are hiccups as train services resume along the East-West Line, said the 24-year-old.

On Sept 25, a faulty first-generation Kawasaki Heavy Industries train, which had been in service for more than 35 years, was travelling eastwards when it

encountered a fault near Clementi station at about 9am.

As it was being withdrawn from service to Ulu Pandan Depot, a defective component on the train’s undercarriage – known as an axle box – dropped onto the tracks near Dover station.

This caused the wheels of the undercarriage to run off the rail. The extensive damage triggered a power trip that stalled other trains and downed rail services.

Among the equipment that was damaged were three point machines that divert trains onto different tracks, stretches of the third rail that supplies power to trains, and power cables.