The East-West Line (EWL) train disruption enters the third day on Friday (27 September). The disruption began Wednesday morning, stranding 850 passengers after a power fault affected multiple stations. Investigations have since revealed that there is extensive damage to the MRT track and trackside equipment due to a defective train axle box on a train that had dropped.
SMRT said in a statement that it found “a total of 34 rail breaks across 1.6km of tracks between Clementi and Dover stations, and damage to three point machines which are used to divert the train to different tracks; the third rail which supplies power; as well as power cables and rail clips”.
With services still suspended between Jurong East and Buona Vista, SMRT has said that there will be no train service on the EWL between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations on Friday. Free regular and bridging bus services remain available.
SMRT had earlier shared that it was exploring the possibility of operating a shuttle train service between the stations. “We had tried our best to make this option work by expediting the repairs on one of the tracks. We have 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 said in a statement early on Friday.
SMRT added, “On balance, it is better to prioritise repair and expedite restoring full service earlier, rather than run a 20-minute shuttle between Jurong East and Buona Vista stations. SMRT is aiming to restore full service on Monday 30 September, and running the shuttle train could risk delaying full restoration by at least a few days.”
Singapore’s transport minister has also apologised to commuters. “On behalf of the One Transport Family, I would like to offer my sincere apologies to all our commuters for the disruption. Our workers are doing their best to safely restore train services as soon as possible,” Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said in a Facebook post.
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