Leong Wee Keat | 16 Dec, 2011 6:00 AM
Thousands stranded as train services disrupted for second day in a row
SINGAPORE - Thousands of commuters, some making their way home after a long day at work, others heading to town to do their Christmas shopping, had their plans ruined yesterday evening after a damaged 40m stretch of a power rail crippled the main belt of the North-South MRT line.
The massive disruption hit 11 stations, from Marina Bay to Bishan. Confusion reigned but chaos were averted as commuters mostly kept a lid on their frustrations at the second MRT disruption in as many days.
Two commuters were taken to hospital - one was semi-conscious and the other had difficulty breathing - and a window of a train was smashed as passengers stuck underground gasped for air after the train's air-conditioning shut down and lights went out.
South-bound services were restored after two hours but north-bound services remained closed through the night.
It all began just before 7pm, when a north-bound train stalled between the City Hall and Dhoby Ghaut stations.
Hundreds of passengers on the train were stranded for up to an hour in darkness - the only light came from mobile phones as commuters tried to call family and friends. Mr Asmin Amri, 62, said: "I prayed nothing would happen. I was afraid people would push and shove and things may get out hand."
Student Fitrah Radhiah, 16, added: "I felt nervous. Everything seemed dark." As it got increasingly stuffy, a passenger used a fire extinguisher to break a train window.
The passengers' ordeal ended when they were allowed to leave the train. Guided by SMRT, police and Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel, they walked about 300m in the dark to Dhoby Ghaut Station. Said Mr Asmin: "Everyone stayed calm and left in an orderly fashion. If not, there would have been chaos."
At the other affected stations, commuters besieged SMRT staff and police officers for answers and refunds, while scores simply got tired of waiting for alternatives and walked to their destinations. Queues snaked across taxi stands in the city, and buses slowed to a crawl as they were filled with passengers.
HEALTH CHECK FOR MRT
In a statement posted on his Facebook page last night, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, who is in Phnom Penh for an ASEAN Transport Ministers' meeting, said he was "especially concerned for the well-being of the people who were reported to be trapped in the trains for an extended period of time before they made their way to safety."
While he was unsure if the disruptions "are isolated incidents or whether there are systemic and more serious underlying issues causing these breakdowns", Mr Lui said he has tasked the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to "conduct a thorough health check on our train systems, determine how the faults happened and also whether the maintenance, communication and recovery processes were adhered to and can be further improved".
"I have asked LTA to assemble a team of relevant experts, including possibly relevant overseas experts to help us in this review," he added.
On Wednesday, a disruption - caused by a communication network problem - hit seven Circle Line stations and lasted nearly five hours.
Adding that the "recent series of disruptions is indeed worrisome", LTA deputy chief executive Lim Bok Ngam said LTA will investigate the cause of the incidents. The expert team to be assembled will probe the "underlying issues", he added.
Mr Lim also called on SMRT to improve the way it handled service disruptions after last night's episode. He said: "Obviously, from public feedback ... SMRT must do much more in their communications to the public to provide timely onsite information to help commuters make decisions on what alternative transport best suits them in the event of a disruption of this nature."
SMRT said a preliminary investigation showed that around 40m of the power rail had been damaged between City Hall and Dhoby Ghaut stations. "SMRT staff are now on site attending to the fault," said a spokesperson last night. "We will work round the clock to repair the damage and hope to get the north-bound train service for this stretch up by tomorrow morning. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused."
SMRT also apologised for an "oversight" which saw a message dispatched to all its taxi drivers of an "income opportunity" following the massive train service disruption. "Our staff used a template and we have since corrected it," the SMRT spokesperson said.
The disruptions come after fares for trains - as well as buses - were raised by 1 per cent in October.
Commuter Nurul Othman, 22, said: "I would have expected better service given that we are now paying more."
Another commuter, a 20-year-old student, said: "SMRT should not raise fares if this is the kind of service they are providing." Additional reporting by Tanya Fong and Ng Jing Yng
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