NEL and Sengkang-Punggol LRT services disrupted by power fault

MRT service resumes after 3 hours; LRT service fully restored after about 10 hours

- Esther Loi, Koh Ming Lun and Gabrielle Andres

Train services on the North East MRT line resumed following a three-hour disruption caused by a major power fault from around 11am on Aug 12.

Services on the entire Sengkang-Punggol LRT system were fully restored at 9.20pm after about 10 hours.

While Sengkang LRT services were restored at 3.34pm and Punggol LRT services at 4.04pm, operator SBS Transit announced at 5.20pm that it would run the Sengkang-Punggol LRT lines on only one track each during the evening peak period, with trains arriving at five-minute intervals.

This was to avoid putting stress on the power supply from a single shared substation.

At about 6.15pm, The Straits Times observed long queues at the platform of Punggol LRT station, with staff heard directing passengers to free bridging bus services.

Some passengers appeared to be confused as there were initially no designated queueing areas for the loop services headed in different directions, but the confusion eased when station staff opened two more gates to facilitate boarding at Punggol station.

Free bridging buses were available at designated stops at Sengkang-Punggol LRT stations. Similar free bus services along the North East Line (NEL) had stopped after the resumption of train services there.

The disruption on the NEL affected train service between Farrer Park and Punggol Coast, a stretch of 11 stations, said SBS Transit's group chief executive Jeffrey Sim in a Facebook post at about 3pm on Aug 12.

Service was restored at 12.50pm between Farrer Park and Buangkok, and was declared fully back up at 2.10pm.

When contacted, SBS Transit referred The Straits Times to its social media post with Mr Sim's statement.