Services were affected at Raffles Place MRT yesterday after a power fault occurred a few minutes before a fire was reported to have broken out at the station.
The power fault was the first of three that struck the SMRT-operated North-South and Circle lines, resulting in slow train services between Newton and Marina South Pier, and Marina Bay and Bayfront, yesterday morning.
The fire was extinguished before firemen arrived, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force, which was alerted to the incident at about 4.55am. The cause of the equipment-related fire is under investigation.
SMRT did not comment on whether the fire was related to the power fault which happened at 4.45am. That fault slowed services between Newton and Marina South Pier to a crawl. SMRT said at around 6.30am that travel times would be lengthened by 30 minutes. Free bus services were also activated.
SMRT said its engineers rectified the fault and normal service resumed progressively from 7.25am.
The power fault on the Circle Line at around 7.35am halted services between Marina Bay and Bayfront, prompting SMRT to again activate buses.
The fault on this stretch was resolved just before 8am and services progressively resumed.
At 8.26am, SMRT said a power fault on the North-South Line halted services between Marina South Pier and Orchard. This was related to the earlier power fault on the line recurring, said SMRT.
Free bus services between Marina South Pier and Newton were activated and commuters were also advised to seek alternative transport.
SMRT said at 8.50am that the fault had been fixed and services were being restored.
It is uncommon for two lines to be affected by a series of power faults.
Commuters The Straits Times spoke to complained of chaos at the affected stations.
Mr Sunny Tay, 55, said he was directed by SMRT staff to several different platforms at City Hall station.
He spent about an hour shuttling between the different platforms in search of a train that would take him to Orchard MRT station.
Mr Tay finally boarded a train at about 8am, but a few minutes later an announcement said the service could not depart and passengers had to alight. He ended up taking a bus to Orchard.
"I was very fed up and frustrated," said Mr Tay, a supervisor at an engineering firm, adding that the delay caused him to be an hour late for work.
Another commuter, who wanted to be known only as Ms Rush, said she was also given the wrong instructions at City Hall station.
A staff member had directed her to a train bound for Novena station but it returned to City Hall after setting off from the station.
"The least they can do is give accurate information to avoid further delays for us," said Ms Rush.
