Commuters intending to travel between Jurong East (EW24) and Buona Vista (EW21) stations on the East-West Line (EWL) will need to seek alternate modes of transport as regular train services will not resume on Monday (Sep 30) following the major train disruption.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and rail operator SMRT previously said on Saturday that recovery works were progressing well, and comprehensive system functional and safety tests were scheduled to be conducted on Sunday.
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No train service between Jurong East & Buona Vista stations
“New rail crack to the west of Clementi station” (Image: SMRT)
LTA and SMRT said in a statement released on Sunday that after stress testing of the westbound tracks from Clementi station to Ulu Pandan depot, 12 new rail cracks were found on unreplaced rail segments.
It added that these 12 new rail cracks – which were previously not visible – were due to rail segments being weakened by the damaged MRT train when it was recalled back to the depot on Wednesday morning.
The damaged train is a 1st-gen Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 (KHI) train. The 35-year-old KHI train fleet has been undergoing retirement since 2020 and is being replaced by the 7th-gen Alstom Movia R151 trains, which first entered service last year.
LTA and SMRT engineers will require additional time to replace 10 more rail segments on Sunday. It will then conduct more stress testing on Monday after replacements of rails to ensure safety and rail integrity before resuming passenger service.
“During stress testing, 12 new cracks that were previously not visible appeared on unreplaced rail segments along the section of westbound tracks from Clementi to Ulu Pandan Depot.
“These cracks were due to the rail segments being weakened by the damaged train when it was travelling back to the depot on Wednesday morning. LTA and SMRT engineers will require additional time to replace the 10 rail segments today.
“After the rail replacement, more stress testing will be conducted tomorrow to ensure safety and rail integrity before resuming full passenger service.”
— SMRT
In a Facebook update, Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said: “Weather permitting, we expect the rail replacements to be completed tonight, followed by further testing to continue for most of tomorrow.”
He added that SMRT has to push back the resumption of train services from Monday to Tuesday, subject to weather conditions and after thorough tests have been successfully completed, to ensure the safety of commuters.
Weather permitting, we expect the rail replacements to be completed tonight, followed by further testing to continue for most of tomorrow.
To ensure the safety of commuters, SMRT has to push back the resumption of train services from Monday to Tuesday, subject to weather conditions and after thorough testing have been successfully completed.
The EWL train disruption began on Wednesday morning after a defective KHI train was withdrawn back to the Ulu Pandan depot. While en route to the depot, the train’s axle box train had “dropped”, causing one bogie to “come off the running rail”.
Amongst the trail of destruction caused by the KHI train, LTA and SMRT initially found 34 rail cracks across 1.6km of tracks between Dover (EW22) and Clementi (EW23) stations. Several Pandrol clips that fasten running rails onto the sleepers were also damaged.
Other trackside equipment that was damaged includes the third rail – which supplies direct-current electrical power of 750 volts to the trains – and three track point machines – which are used to divert trains to different tracks.
LTA and SMRT previously said on Saturday that “restoration work is fully completed” and had intended to run trains at different speeds on Sunday, following the finalisation of repairs and comprehensive system functional and safety tests.
Free regular bus services are available between Boon Lay (EW27) and Queenstown (EW19) stations, and free bridging bus services between Jurong East (EW24) and Buona Vista (EW21) stations.
Shuttle train services operating at 10-minute intervals are also available between Buona Vista (EW21) and Queenstown (EW19) stations and between Boon Lay (EW27) and Jurong East (EW24) stations.
“We are working towards resuming train services on Tuesday (Oct 1) after thorough testing,” said LTA on Sunday.
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Related Links
Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 – SGTrains
East-West Line – SGTrains
Train Service Status – SGTrains
External Links
More Time Needed for Thorough Testing to Ensure Commuter Safety – SMRT
“🚇More Time Needed for Thorough Testing to Ensure Commuter Safety; Free regular and bridging bus services remain available 🚍” – SMRT/Facebook
“#PSA There will be no train services from #JurongEast to #BuonaVista stations on Mon, 30 Sep. We are working towards resuming train services on Tue, 1 Oct after thorough testing.” – LTA/Facebook
“SMRT and Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving engineers and technicians have been working tirelessly to repair the damage to the tracks and equipment.” – Chee Hong Tat/Facebook
Images: Chee Hong Tat/Facebook, SMRT, SMRT.
This article first appeared on SGTrains.
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