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SINGAPORE: A second MRT disruption in two days affected thousands of evening peak-hour commuters.
Train services on both directions of the North-South Line from Marina Bay to Braddell stations were disrupted on Thursday evening.
Emergency services were spotted outside MRT stations, and peak-hour traffic on the roads was also affected.
Traffic congestion was reported on Orchard Road between Dhoby Ghaut and City Hall MRT stations, as many who were out of the stations opted for taxis.
Services on southbound trains resumed at around 9pm.
North-bound train services between Marina Bay and Bishan stations resumed at 11.40pm.
Elsewhere, north-bound services from Ang Mo Kio to Jurong East stations, as well as all south-bound train services, the East-West and Circle Line train services continued as normal.
SMRT says a dedicated one-way bus bridging service will run from Bishan to Ang Mo Kio stations. Circle Line passengers alighting at Bishan and travelling north towards Woodlands are advised to take this bus bridging service or other modes of transport.
A two-way bus bridging service is available between Marina Bay and Ang Mo Kio stations. Commuters are advised to take alternative modes of transport even though bus bridging services are provided.
An SMRT spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia that the breakdown was due to a "power rail problem".
According to an SMRT statement, preliminary investigation shows that around 40 metres of the power rail has been damaged between City Hall and Dhoby Ghaut stations.
"SMRT staff are now on site attending to the fault. 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," says SMRT.
Passengers affected by the breakdown described scenes of confusion, as they tried to make sense of the situation.
Commuters reportedly banged on train doors and some even used a fire extinguisher to break the windows of a train stuck underground due to lack of ventilation.
One commuter, Adam, said he and hundreds of passengers were stuck on the train travelling from Somerset to Orchard. He said the electricity appeared to have been cut off, as the train was in total darkness. Neither did the air-conditioner seem to be working.
Adam said: "We have been stranded there for one hour, and it is very hot and stuffy. The train doors are all closed. The light also suddenly (switched off), so it's total darkness. The train doors (are) also not open, and it is terrible.
"A lot of people are angry, banging on the windows to break the windows...so that the air can come in. It's very stuffy, it's like a sauna."
Adam later told Channel NewsAsia that the train appeared to have been towed to Orchard MRT station. Someone in one of the carriages then forced the train doors open, freeing the trapped passengers.
Channel NewsAsia viewers also sent in pictures of commuters being evacuated and walking along the track in the train tunnel. One viewer, Nizam Rahim, sent in a picture of his wife walking on the track in the tunnel at the Dhoby Ghaut station.
Another commuter, who wanted to be known as Mr Tan, spoke to Channel NewsAsia from Raffles Place MRT station.
He said he was on his way to work, and heard several announcements asking passengers to avoid the North-South Line and to take the East-West Line instead.
Mr Tan said: "A lot of us....all have problems. There are so many people coming downstairs and people telling them the train is not moving anymore. I think the crowd is getting very big.
"The only thing I know is that I'm late for work, so I have to take an alternative route. So I quickly ran upstairs to get a taxi, hopefully, I can get a taxi. I'm still trying to get a taxi, actually."
Another spoke to Channel NewsAsia from Toa Payoh station and said there were long queues of people. They seemed to be requesting refunds, he said.
Writing in his Facebook, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said: "I have been following the incident of the MRT breakdown from Cambodia. I am especially concerned over 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.
"There have been a number of train disruptions in recent days. I do not know if these are isolated incidents or whether there are systemic and more serious underlying issues causing these breakdowns.
"We will therefore 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."
- CNA/ck/ir
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