The inconvenience couldn’t have happened at a worse time — Marinay Bay-bound train services in the North-South line were disrupted for a couple of hours due to a track fault between Yew Tee and Kranji MRT stations yesterday afternoon, stretching into the peak hours.
The first sign of trouble came around 2.54pm, when a train stalled before Kranji station towards Marina Bay. SMRT then sent another train to retrieve the passengers in the affected train as additional staff arrived to help them transfer from train to train.
At Yew Tee station however, the human traffic was massive. Those headed in the direction of Marina Bay on the North-South line had to board the free bus bridging services between Yew Tee and Kranji stations or seek alternative transport to their destinations, with SMRT advising an additional travelling time of 30 to 40 minutes.
Guys there’s no train service frm kranji to yew tee (shuttle provided). Meanwhile, rmb to take this free voucher haha pic.twitter.com/yFpuJbhVYU
— ⓙⓨ♂ (@Deludedguy96) February 23, 2015
Train break down again……. yew tee this time pic.twitter.com/ChhZEzfCK5
— ℱˠ ⍢ (@fangyuuu) February 23, 2015
The red line train services towards Jurong East however remained available throughout.
It was only around 7.14pm that SMRT engineers managed to haul away the stalled train between the stations and access the track to repair the damaged third rail, which supplies power tot he trains. Their restoration efforts were hampered initially due to the high risk of lightning due to a thunderstorm over the area. Train services resumed before 7.30pm, but with speed restrictions imposed as a safety precaution.
Photo: @Eikzxzx via Twitter
