Two MRT failures in a week

HUNDREDS of peak-hour commuters were stranded twice in a week, as trains stalled last Saturday evening and, again, yesterday morning.

The second incident happened at 8.27 am yesterday. Office workers were stranded for 19 minutes when a west-bound train came to a stop after leaving Raffles Place station.

Another train was used to push the defective train to Outram Park station.

At 8.54 pm last Saturday, a west-bound train broke down between Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar stations.

Power supply to the train's air-conditioning, lighting and communication systems was disrupted, plunging commuters into darkness.

SMRT said in a statement that in last week's incident, the train's backup battery was also disconnected. So there was no announcement over the public-address system inside the train.

But ventilation fans and lighting in the tunnel were switched on when the train stopped.

Another train had to be used to push the defective train to Tanjong Pagar station, where the commuters got off. Normal train service resumed at 9.20 pm.

An SMRT spokesman said that investigations into both incidents were under way, but the causes will not be known for some time.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/sin11_0825.html

-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), August 25, 2000