Bukit Panjang LRT services fully resume Tuesday afternoon
[UPDATED 6;00pm, 10 March 2015: Added latest SMRT update]
Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (BPLRT) train services fully resumed Tuesday afternoon after being halted Monday night following a fire.
Train operator SMRT said that commuters travelling on the BPLRT will not be charged for their train journeys until noon on Wednesday, 11 March.
Free public bus and bus bridging services will continue to operate until further notice, it said.
"We deeply apologise for the inconvenience this disruption has caused BPLRT commuters," SMRT said. "A full investigation is being conducted and we will provide details when ready."
BPLRT train services were stopped Monday night and both bounds remained unavailable through Tuesday morning.
In a Facebook post at 4:14am on Tuesday, SMRT said, "Our engineers have been working through the night and will continue to recover LRT services as soon as possible."
"Preliminary investigations indicate that a tie-breaker overheated and caught fire. We are still investigating the root cause of the incident," the company added.
It said public bus services provided by SMRT and SBS Transit in the Bukit Panjang area will be free. Also, free bus bridging services for both Service A and Service B will be available from 5am.
BPLRT train services were cancelled Monday evening after a fire was reported at Senja station.
In a Facebook post at 7:03pm on Monday, transport operator SMRT said, "Services on the BPLRT will not resume this evening. We are working to recover service by tomorrow morning and are investigating the root cause of the incident."
It added that free bus and bridging services were available, even as it urged commuters to "seek alternative transport options".
SMRT said that power tie-breakers at Senja station were damaged.
In its first post on the incident at 6:36pm, SMRT said that it had closed all BPLRT stations due to a traction power trip between Pending and Petir stations.
In an update 11 minutes later, SMRT said the fire alarm was activated at 6pm at Senja station and that the Singapore Civil Defence Force had responded.
The incident is being investigated, it added.
The Straits Times quoted the SCDF as saying that "the fire involved a circuit breaker inside the electrical room".
No one was injured in the fire, which the SCDF reportedly put out using one fire extinguisher.
The incident follows a series of train disruptions that have inspired tweets mocking SMRT by members of the public.
