SEP 18 INCIDENT
The Sep 18 incident was caused by a fire. At about 8pm on Sep 18, an SMRT team detected the fire in a TSSS cubicle at Kim Chuan Depot.
In response, the global emergency shutdown system – a built-in safety feature – was automatically activated, triggering a line-wide power shutdown.
The fire was extinguished and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed the area was safe.
“Traction power was restored within 10 minutes, and full train services resumed at 8.15pm,” SMRT said.
LTA, SMRT, and OEM engineers worked through the night to diagnose the cause, implement corrective actions, and conduct functional tests, including test runs.
The priority was to ensure safe and smooth train operations, especially during the F1 period, SMRT said.
“The damaged TSSS cubicle at Kim Chuan Depot has since been isolated from the Circle Line power network.”
Operational control has been transferred to a backup operations control centre at another site.
SMRT said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“Meanwhile, the SMRT engineering team is working with LTA to review the overall design of the TSSS and global emergency shutdown systems,” said SMRT.
It added that system improvements will be made, including enhancements to the Circle Line’s signalling and PA systems, as well as fail-safe and fail-soft features.
The procurement of a replacement TSSS cubicle, with enhanced features, is being expedited, SMRT said.
