Potong Pasir MRT station replaces power transformers earlier to avoid failures

In the dead of night when most people were asleep, work was being done to install essential equipment ahead of schedule at Potong Pasir MRT station.

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof Senior Correspondent

A new rectifier transformer weighing 14 tonnes and measuring 3m by 3m by 2.7m arriving at Potong Pasir MRT station on Oct 26. The massive equipment, with a shelf life of 25 to 30 years, replaces another that had been in use for 22 years. Other stations along the North East Line will see similar replacements as the authorities proactively renew power assets for system reliability. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

(ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR)

The job was to replace a rectifier transformer, which had been in use for 22 years. The device steps down the voltage to the right level, and converts alternating current (AC), from the electrical supply, to direct current (DC), which is used by the trains.

Another rectifier transformer had been replaced the week before.

The replacement required coordination among 50 people engineers, technicians and contractors working over three days to install the massive equipment, which weighed 14 tonnes and measured 3m by 3m by 2.7m.

Potong Pasir station, operated by SBS Transit, is the first station on the 22km-long North East Line (NEL) to have its rectifier transformer replaced. These have a shelf life of 25 to 30 years.