Latest news with #SengkangPunggol
CNA
18 hours ago
- General
- CNA
NEL, Sengkang-Punggol LRT disruption: LTA, SBS Transit working to avoid repeat of rare 'double fault' scenario
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SBS Transit are working on eliminating a recurrence of the "double fault" scenario that affected the North-East Line (NEL) and Sengkang-Punggol LRT. Such a scenario is "rare", LTA and SBS Transit said in a joint statement on Saturday (Aug 16). On Tuesday, the power fault incidents disrupted services on the NEL for about three hours and Sengkang-Punggol LRT for about five hours. Services on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT were again disrupted on Friday for about four hours. THE POWER FAULTS The Sengkang Depot Substation has two interconnected switchboards which serve as backups for each other, said LTA and SBS Transit. Two faults were encountered at the voltage transformer for Switchboard 2 on Aug 12, read the statement. The first involved a high current surge due to a fault in the voltage transformer, while the second was a dislodged cable connecting to the voltage transformer. In a normal situation, the first fault would have triggered the fuse in the voltage transformer and cut off electric current, said LTA and SBS Transit. "However, in this situation, the dislodged cable came into contact with the metallic surface of the voltage transformer panel and allowed electric current to continue to flow, despite the fuse having been blown," they said. As a result, the high current surge damaged Switchboard 2. As the two switchboards were connected, the high current surge from the fault caused Switchboard 1 to disconnect from the system to avoid damage. With Switchboard 2 damaged and Switchboard 1 disconnected, power supply to parts of the NEL and the SPLRT was cut off. LTA and SBS Transit noted that services on NEL and Sengkang-Punggol LRT were "progressively restored" on the same day using a backup power supply. However, Switchboard 2 could not be repaired immediately "due to the extensive damage". "As Switchboard 1 was protected from damage, it was reconnected to allow normal service to resume the next morning," according to the statement. POWER CABLE FAULT A power cable fault occurred between Farmway and Kupang stations on the Sengkang LRT on Friday, said LTA and SBS Transit. "The power cable fault caused the entire network to lose power," they added. Switchboard 2 at Sengkang Depot Substation, which could have been used to provide backup power, was still out of service from the incident on Tuesday, they said, adding that service progressively resumed in the afternoon after power was restored. LTA and SBS Transit are still investigating the cause of the cable fault, said the authorities. Their engineers are also testing the cables along the entire Sengkang-Punggol LRT network to assess their condition. These tests on around 28km of cables is expected to be completed by Aug 23 as they can only be carried out during engineering hours, said LTA and SBS Transit.
CNA
4 days ago
- General
- CNA
NEL disruption: Authorities reviewing measures to strengthen power system resilience
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SBS Transit are reviewing measures to strengthen the power system's resilience after an hours-long disruption hit train services on the North-East Line (NEL) and Sengkang-Punggol LRT on Tuesday (Aug 12). Train services between 11 stations on the NEL were affected on Tuesday after a power trip occurred at a depot substation. The Sengkang-Punggol LRT service was disrupted as well. "Based on preliminary investigations LTA conducted with SBS Transit, a fault had occurred in the switchboards which fed power to the system," said the transport authority in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "There are two switchboards that act as backups for each other. Normally, if one trips, the other can continue supplying power from the main source." However, during Tuesday's fault, the first switchboard was damaged and the surge triggered a safety feature that shut down the second switchboard to protect it from damage, said LTA. This also cut off the main power supply from Sengkang Depot. As a result, SBS Transit had to manually connect the backup power source from Dhoby Ghaut to the second switchboard to restore services progressively. 'As part of post-incident follow-up, LTA and SBS Transit are also reviewing measures to strengthen our power system's resilience,' said the transport authority. DISRUPTION Tuesday's disruption was announced by SBS Transit at around 11.30am, stating that train services between Farrer Park and Punggol Coast MRT stations on the NEL and the entire Sengkang-Punggol LRT were affected. Power was progressively restored to the affected stations, and NEL services fully resumed at 2.10pm. However, services on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT were down for about five hours. SBS Transit Group CEO Jeffrey Sim said that recovery works for the LRT service 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. Power on the Sengkang LRT was restored at 3.34pm, while Punggol LRT had begun progressively resuming services from 4.15pm. However, to avoid stressing the power supply from the single substation, services on the Sengkang-Punggol LRT operated on a single track for both the east and west loops during the evening peak periods. Full services on the LRT were resumed as of 9.20pm. Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow expressed disappointment last week at the rail disruptions in the last few months.
CNA
5 days ago
- General
- CNA
NEL, LRT disruptions: SBS Transit, LTA engineers to work overnight to restore power supply
Train operator SBS Transit says its engineers and those from the Land Transport Authority will be working overnight to restore power supply to the North East Line depot substation. This is after a power fault led to disruptions on Aug 12 across several stops along the North East Line, plus the entire Sengkang-Punggol LRT service. Earlier in the day, CNA's Rachel Teng and Muhammad Bahajjaj went out to three affected stations.
