North-South Line disruption: Faulty water pump flooded MRT tunnel, says LTA
Water entered the MRT tunnels through a “portal opening near Bishan MRT Station” due to a water pumping system malfunction, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Sunday (9 Oct).
A section of the North-South Line (NSL) MRT tunnel between Bishan and Braddell stations was flooded after a torrential downpour on Saturday, causing train service from Ang Mo Kio to Marina South Pier to be paused for more than three hours. Train services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton were also suspended while the Singapore Civil Defence Force cleared water from the tunnel.
In a Facebook post, LTA wrote, “Yesterday, the water pumping system malfunctioned, resulting in rainwater overflowing from the storm water sump pit into the tunnel opening and accumulating at the lowest point of the tunnel, between Bishan and Braddell stations.
“As a safety measure, SMRT immediately deactivated the trackside power supply. The pump system has since been repaired.”
Detailed investigations into the cause of this incident are ongoing, added LTA.
Train services between Ang Mo Kio and Newton resumed at 1.52pm on Sunday (8 October), after services were disrupted for about 20 hours.
It was the worst breakdown of SMRT train services since the disruptions on NSL and East-West Line (EWL) on 7 July 2015. The duration of the latest breakdown also surpassed that of the disruptions on the NSL over two days in December 2011.
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