SINGAPORE: About 10,500 passengers were affected by the Circle Line (CCL) disruption which was caused by a faulty power cable on Thursday night.
Speaking at a media conference on Friday morning, SMRT's CEO Desmond Kuek said the issue of faulty power cables is not new.
A similar disruption at Dakota Station last year was also the result of a power cable fault.
Mr Kuek said SMRT is aware that this problem has caused inconveniences during operations, but it bears no impact on the safety of the system.
He added that SMRT has been replacing cables found to have low insulation and the remaining will be changed progressively.
But this will take some time, as there are over 1,000 cables and they can only be replaced during a three-hour maintenance session every night.
For now, the replacement process will likely take 18 months from January 2013.
He said SMRT and LTA intend to look into accelerating the programme to fix the problem.
This includes the possibility of extending the engineering hours or closing selected stretches during off-peak hours.
He said should this be necessary, the public will be informed early of any scheduled disruptions.
There will also be alternative services to minimise the inconvenience to commuters.
Mr Kuek said one train had stalled between the Bayfront and Promenade stations - all 102 passengers got off the train at 10.48pm and this was completed by 11.07pm.
Mr Kuek added that Rail Incident Management Plan was activated immediately after the service disruption occurred.
He said SMRT has received feedback that its contingency measures have improved.
But there are areas - such as better communication, which can still be refined.
- CNA/ck
Speaking at a media conference on Friday morning, SMRT's CEO Desmond Kuek said the issue of faulty power cables is not new.
A similar disruption at Dakota Station last year was also the result of a power cable fault.
Mr Kuek said SMRT is aware that this problem has caused inconveniences during operations, but it bears no impact on the safety of the system.
He added that SMRT has been replacing cables found to have low insulation and the remaining will be changed progressively.
But this will take some time, as there are over 1,000 cables and they can only be replaced during a three-hour maintenance session every night.
For now, the replacement process will likely take 18 months from January 2013.
He said SMRT and LTA intend to look into accelerating the programme to fix the problem.
This includes the possibility of extending the engineering hours or closing selected stretches during off-peak hours.
He said should this be necessary, the public will be informed early of any scheduled disruptions.
There will also be alternative services to minimise the inconvenience to commuters.
Mr Kuek said one train had stalled between the Bayfront and Promenade stations - all 102 passengers got off the train at 10.48pm and this was completed by 11.07pm.
Mr Kuek added that Rail Incident Management Plan was activated immediately after the service disruption occurred.
He said SMRT has received feedback that its contingency measures have improved.
But there are areas - such as better communication, which can still be refined.
- CNA/ck
