Over 250,000 commuters wrung their hands in exasperation earlier this month during the worst public transport disruption in Singapore's history and for weeks the authorities scrambled to find the reason behind the cataclysm.
It all started with a water leak. Really.
In a joint briefing held by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT today, water with high levels of chloride had started leaking at a spot between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place MRT, decreasing the resistance levels of the insulator when it contaminated its surface.
TODAY reports that electrical current was then able to flow down the third rail support bracket down to earth, causing big spike in ground voltage levels. The spike triggered a protective safety relay system, which tripped the system as a safety mechanism. Thus crippling both the North-South and East-West lines during the evening peak hour.
The root cause was uncovered with the help of engineering experts from Swedish and Japanese companies, who carried out system-wide inspections across more than 200km of train track and components, as well as all 141 trains and train logs from that fateful day.
Insulators with low resistance have been identified, and SMRT will be replacing them by the next six weeks. The rest will be progressively replaced and completed by the first quarter of 2017.
Great work; just don't fuck it up again guys.
Photo: LTA Facebook page
Over 250,000 commuters wrung their hands in exasperation earlier this month during the worst public transport disruption in Singapore's history and for weeks the authorities scrambled to find the reason behind the cataclysm.
It all started with a water leak. Really.
In a joint briefing held by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT today, water with high levels of chloride had started leaking at a spot between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place MRT, decreasing the resistance levels of the insulator when it contaminated its surface.
TODAY reports that electrical current was then able to flow down the third rail support bracket down to earth, causing big spike in ground voltage levels. The spike triggered a protective safety relay system, which tripped the system as a safety mechanism. Thus crippling both the North-South and East-West lines during the evening peak hour.
The root cause was uncovered with the help of engineering experts from Swedish and Japanese companies, who carried out system-wide inspections across more than 200km of train track and components, as well as all 141 trains and train logs from that fateful day.
Insulators with low resistance have been identified, and SMRT will be replacing them by the next six weeks. The rest will be progressively replaced and completed by the first quarter of 2017.
Great work; just don't fuck it up again guys.
Photo: LTA Facebook page