10 New Facts About the Massive MRT Disruption on 14 Oct, Which Includes Suspension of 2 Staff Members

2020 could easily be renamed A Series of Unfortunate Events, and no one would have a problem with it.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, travel has been halted, large parties are illegal, avoiding handshakes is now the polite thing to do, and working while on the toilet is now normal.

Reader: Literally no one thinks working on the toilet is normal

And of course, since 2020 has already been so awful, this is the year the universe decided to bless us with a 3-hour long MRT disruption.

So, how exactly did it start? And whose fault was it?

Well, just like 2020, October’s MRT disruption could also be renamed A Series of Unfortunate Events, and you’ll see why soon.

Here are 10 facts about the massive MRT disruption on 14 Oct.

123,000 Commuters on 3 MRT Lines Were Affected 

According to a report released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), around 123,000 commuters were affected by the disruption.

This is because three MRT lines were affected.

Services from Woodlands to Jurong East on the North-South Line, Queenstown to Gul Circle on the East-West Line, as well as HarbourFront to Serangoon on the Circle Line were disrupted.

And it wasn’t a brief delay, either.

The Disruption Lasted 3 Hours & 36 Mins

Services on the North-South and East-West Line were delayed for a staggering three hours and 36 minutes, from 6:58pm to 10:34pm.

This means that the 110,000 affected commuters could have watched Avengers: Endgame on their phones and would still have had 34 minutes to kill.

Meanwhile, services on the Circle Line were disrupted for exactly one hour, from 7:34pm to 8:34pm, affecting some 13,000 passengers.

Some Passengers Had To Walk Back to Stations on Train Tracks

The coronavirus, which must have been depressed in the last few weeks, likely rubbed its hands with glee when it saw the massive crowds forming outside MRT stations and at bus stops, as 119 bridging bus services were deployed.

Meanwhile, some passengers who were stuck on stalled trains were forced to walk back to nearby stations on the train tracks.

That’s not something you see every day. Or ever, really. 

It All Started With a Power Cable Fault

Believe it or not, this huge, hours-long disruption was due to a power cable fault.

According to CNA, at 6.58pm that day, there was a breakdown in the insulation of a power cable along the Tuas West Extension.

This in and of itself isn’t a major issue, as it’s happened before and never caused such a long and widespread disruption.

The problem was that a certain protection mechanism wasn’t functioning properly.

The Fault Was Exacerbated By a Faulty… Circuit Breaker

Some of you might have forgotten what an actual circuit breaker is. Don’t confuse it with the one that leaves you feeling lonely and empty inside.

This is a circuit breaker:

If it wasn’t 2020 and things were normal, a circuit breaker at the Tuas West Road station should have kicked in to isolate the power cable fault.

However, it failed to do so as there was a faulty trip coil in it.

As a result, a secondary protection mechanism tripped, cutting off power to some stations on the North-South and East-West lines.

This explains the blackout at some stations.

Bruh Boon Lay also wth pic.twitter.com/PTJuKKTBbn

— CIpherLovesDonuts (@CipherDonuts) October 14, 2020

Then, an attempt to fix the issue just made things worse.

Two SMRT Staff Members Were Suspended For Making Errors

In order to rectify the issue, an SMRT staff member then tried to draw power from a different substation that supplies power to the Circle Line.

But this was done without ensuring that the initial cable fault was isolated, which caused the Circle Line’s power system to trip as well.

“Our power staff misread the graphics display and thought that the fault had been isolated and proceeded to draw power from Buona Vista (substation),” SMRT CEO Neo Kian Hong said.

Both the staff member and a supervisor have been suspended from their duties, and will only be permitted to resume after undergoing retraining and recertification.

Four Similar Cable Faults Have Occurred Since 2017

As previously mentioned, the initial cable fault is not an uncommon occurrence.

In fact, LTA said there has been four similar cable faults at different locations since service on the Tuas West Extension started in 2017.

However, the circuit breaker kicked in on those occasions and isolated the faults, so services weren’t affected.

But why didn’t LTA do something about it?

They did, actually.

Replacement Work Was Supposed to Start in October

LTA said it treated these cable faults as a “matter of significant concern” and brought it up to Alstom, their systems supplier, in January this year.

Alstom had actually agreed to replace the upper of two layers of power cables at the Tuas West Extension, and replacement work was supposed to start in October.

Unfortunately, it seems like they waited too long.

All Power Cables Along Tuas West Extension Will Be Replaced

In light of the massive disruption, however, Alstom will replace around 150km of cables with ones that have tougher insulation, according to The Straits Times.

They also aim to replace all 113 trip coils, which are core components of circuit breakers, by the end of 2020.

Alstom apologised for the disruption, and said it will bear the cost of replacement.

Some MRT Lines May Close On Sundays Next Year For Replacement Work

LTA said there will be early closure and late openings on weekends from November to facilitate the trip coil replacement.

Some train lines may also experience full-day closures on Sundays next year, when the cables are being replaced.

Neo apologised for the inconvenience caused, and said SMRT would work with LTA and Alstom to “minimise the risk of a reoccurrence”.

SMRT will also enhance procedures for power recovery, as well as test circuit breakers every six months instead of 12.

With all these precautions, another disruption is unlikely to occur again this year, but since it’s 2020, you should probably have Avengers: Endgame on your phone just in case.