NEL disruption: Main and backup power supply tripped at depot substation
The power fault led to a three-hour disruption of train services on the North East Line.
Commuters at Farrer Park MRT station after a power fault led to a disruption of train services on the North East Line on Aug 12, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Koh Wan Ting)
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SINGAPORE: A trip in the main and backup power supply at a depot substation led to an hours-long disruption of train services on the North East Line (NEL) and Sengkang-Punggol LRT on Tuesday (Aug 12).
Preliminary investigations showed that there was a failure of the power switchboard, causing a flashover in one of the voltage transformers that is used to regulate the power supply, said SBS Transit Group CEO Jeffrey Sim on Tuesday evening.
"This resulted in a trip in both the main and backup power supply as part of the power protection mechanism," he added.
The power fault led to a three-hour disruption of NEL services, which affected 11 stations between Farrer Park and Punggol MRT stations.
The faulty voltage transformer could not be repaired immediately, and a decision was taken to bypass the depot substation and draw power from the other substation at Dhoby Ghaut so that train services could resume, said Mr Sim.
"Our engineers also carried out extensive checks to ensure that the fault will not impact the operational stations," he added.
Power was progressively restored to the affected stations, and NEL services fully resumed at 2.10pm.
SENGKANG-PUNGGOL LRT
Services on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT were also down for about five hours due to the power fault.
Recovery works on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT had to be carried out in stages to ensure a steady increase of the electrical load and prevent another power trip, as both the NEL and Sengkang-Punggol LRT were now relying on a shared substation, said Mr Sim.
To ensure the safe running of Sengkang-Punggol LRT services, a "complete restart" and checks of the signalling and power systems, as well as the LRT vehicles, had to be carried out.
"This took additional time before power on the Sengkang LRT was restored at 3.34pm while service on the Punggol LRT resumed at 4.04pm," said Mr Sim.
"However, to avoid stressing the power supply from the single substation, a decision was made to operate the Sengkang-Punggol LRT services on a single track for both the east and west loops during the evening peak periods."
SBS Transit engineers, together with Land Transport Authority (LTA) engineers, will be working during engineering hours on Tuesday night to restore power supply to the NEL depot substation.
"This will allow full service to be available for the Sengkang-Punggol LRT when service commences tomorrow," said Mr Sim.
"We will work closely with the LTA to prevent a recurrence of this incident. We apologise to all affected commuters for the inconvenience caused."
In a Facebook update at 9.20pm, SBS Transit said that the Sengkang-Punggol LRT was back to full service.
Free bridging and regular bus services, which were available to serve LRT commuters, had stopped, it added. These bus services were also available during the NEL disruption.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused," said SBS Transit, adding its thanks to affected commuters for their patience and understanding.
