Lightning did not hit Bedok-bound train, driver discharged from hospital: SMRT

SINGAPORE – The train captain who was hospitalised after a lightning incident has been discharged, SMRT said on Tuesday (Nov 21), adding that an inspection by its engineers found that the westbound train which stalled at Bedok MRT station on Monday was not hit by lightning.

Instead, the lightning struck some trackside equipment, causing a number of track circuits to “experience failure”.

“We took the train back to the depot and we checked the entire train very thoroughly. There were no burn marks, there were no signs of damage on the surge arrester, so we are very sure that the lightning did not strike the train,” SMRT Trains chief executive Lee Ling Wee said when asked about Monday's incident at a press briefing.

The briefing was held to give an update on the Joo Koon collision on Nov 15, which injured nearly 40 people.

In an earlier update on Tuesday in response to queries from TODAY, SMRT said that the train driver was on sick leave for two days and had just returned to work on Monday before the lightning incident happened.

“After the lightning incident, he reported that he was feeling unwell and as a precautionary measure to ensure the well-being of our staff, he was admitted to hospital for observation,” said SMRT vice-president of corporate communications Patrick Nathan.

Mr Nathan said that following the incident, the train was “immediately able to recover and move on its own power, moving passengers safely to Bedok station”. At the station, passengers alighted and the train was promptly withdrawn from service to allow for a thorough inspection by SMRT’s engineers, he added.

Reiterating that passengers and staff safety are of “paramount importance” to the operator, Mr Nathan said it is safe to travel in the trains during a lightning storm as they are protected by a “Faraday Cage”, an enclosure formed by conductive material that blocks electric fields and electric currents from entering the trains.

When lightning strikes, the electric current will travel through the outside shell of the train and not into the cabin.  It then travels through the wheels to the track. - Additional reporting by Kenneth Cheng