SINGAPORE: More than 300 engineers and technicians have been working to repair the damage to tracks and equipment on the East-West Line, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said late on Thursday (Sep 26).
On Wednesday, a component fell off a first-generation train, resulting in what authorities described as “extensive damage” to the train track and equipment between Clementi and Dover MRT stations.
This, in turn, caused a power trip that led to the disruption on the East-West Line, one of the two original lines built back in the eighties.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and rail operator SMRT had earlier hoped to partially restore services on Friday but announced on Thursday evening that the service disruption would continue for a third day.
“Over the last 40 hours, more than 300 of our engineers and technicians from LTA and SMRT have been working day and night to conduct repairs, to conduct checks to the damaged tracks and equipment,” Mr Chee said during his visit to Ulu Pandan depot.
“As the damage is very extensive, they have to do this carefully and it requires a lot of time,” he said, adding that it was a challenging task.