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‘Extremely concerned’ about disruption of Bukit Panjang LRT line: Lui Tuck Yew

SINGAPORE — Calling on the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT to continue putting "maximum effort and resources" into tackling the disruption to the Bukit Panjang LRT line, which was down for some 19 hours before services partially resumed, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said both parties need to "work towards restoring full service before the evening peak period".

A two-car LRT train runs along the Bukit Panjang LRT system under supervision of SMRT engineers and technicians. Photo: SMRT/Facebook

A two-car LRT train runs along the Bukit Panjang LRT system under supervision of SMRT engineers and technicians. Photo: SMRT/Facebook

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UDPATE: Bukit Panjang LRT resumed full service at 4.30pm today (March 10) after more than 20 hours.

SINGAPORE — Calling on the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT to continue putting "maximum effort and resources" into tackling the disruption to the Bukit Panjang LRT line, which was down for some 19 hours before services partially resumed, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said both parties need to "work towards restoring full service before the evening peak period".

In the meanwhile, SMRT has said that commuters will not be charged for train journeys along the Bukit Panjang LRT line pending the stabilisation and full recovery of the system.

Early this morning (March 10), Mr Lui had posted on Facebook that he was “extremely concerned” about the disruption of Bukit Panjang LRT services following a power trip and fire yesterday evening. He noted the disruption had “resulted in significant inconvenience to residents”. 

"I know that it will take more testing and time for the train service to fully stabilise and return to normal, and before we are confident that the spate of problems since yesterday has been resolved," he added later.

The disruption had lasted for some 19 hours, before service resumed for the outer loop which runs from Senja to Petir stations, at 12.30pm. Train service on Service B remained unavailable, said SMRT Trains Managing Director Lee Ling Wee in an update at 1.45pm. "During this recovery phase, pending the stabilisation and full recovery of the system, commuters will not be charged for train journeys on the BPLRT," said Mr Lee. 

Mr Lee said one of the key tasks that SMRT's engineers and technicians - who worked overnight -  embarked on was to bypass the faulty power tie-breaker which has been sent for further testing. "This enabled testing of up to 20 LRT train cars to commence on the BPLRT system since 6.40am this morning. The number of train cars tested allowed a system-wide inspection of power tie-breakers," he said.

He added that about 100 additional SMRT Customer Service Ambassadors were deployed to all bus bridging points and LRT stations this morning.

The LRT service was disrupted from about 5.30pm yesterday after a power trip between Pending station and Jelapang Station. Some 15 minutes after the power trip, the fire alarm at Senja station went off. Smoke was reportedly seen at the station’s plant room and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was activated. In an update at 4am, SMRT's Mr Lee aid that preliminary investigations indicated that a tie-breaker had overheated and caught fire. “We are still investigating the root cause of the incident,” he said.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Member of Parliament for Bukit Timah-Holland GRC, which includes Bukit Panjang, posted on Facebook at about 4am that the fire at Senja station “caused significant damage”. Outlining plans to deploy shuttle buses, in addition to free rides on regular SMRT services, he said the SMRT management “has to reflect on how best to address the root problems behind this spate of disruptions”.

“Singaporeans have a right to expect and demand higher standards of reliability,” Dr Balakrishnan wrote.

After Mr Lui’s first post this morning, the Transport Minister updated his Facebook page to show a picture of the healthy tie-breaker for the outer loop of Bukit Panjang LRT, and the burnt tie-breaker for the inner loop, “which incidentally was a new one just installed on Sunday night due to some arcing problems”.

He said engineers had completed the bypass of the inner loop tie breaker at Senja Stataion and that the testing of the outer loop was in progress. “Hope to restore outer loop service after morning peak,” he said.

SMRT said in a Facebook post at about 8am that it had started testing of LRT trains “to ensure the safety and reliability of the system before it is re-opened to commuters”.

Some commuters took to social media to express their frustration:

Others, however, felt SMRT has dealt with the disruption well.

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