9/28/2024

MRT - Most serious incident and damage requiring 300 engineers and technicians to work on it

 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. CNA

This train stoppage must be a 1 in 60 years thing. Never had this happened before. It is damn serious to require 300 engineers and technicians to be crawling on the track, probably carrying a magnifying class to comb through the whole track like ants.

And the extensive damage was caused by a component felling off a first generation train. Oh it was an axle box. The axle fell off!  The axle is something that was not supposed to fall off, like the landing gear of an aeroplane. Such components are designed to stay like a permanent fixture.  Any engineer want to explain how an axle can fall off?

What kind of extensive damage can be caused by a component falling on the track?  What kind of fault that needed 300 engineers to work on it? I think the damage caused must be mysterious. Klonk, klonk, klonk along, being dragged along the way. It is like a cancerous growth that spread over a long stretch of the track and more.

According to Chee Hong Tat a reported, 

'The workers need to replace more than 30 rail segments that have been damaged, and each of these rail segments weighs more than 1 tonne, the transport minister said.

"So it is an effort to be able to bring the new replacement in, and then to be able to replace the damaged rail segments," he noted.

The workers also need to repair the third rail and power cables supplying power to the train as well as the point machines, which require careful calibration and alignment, he added.'

3 days of stoppages and will only be back running on Monday, meaning another 3 days of down time, making it a total of 6 days stoppage. This must be real serious trouble, and a big problem for the 300 engineers to crack. It is unbelieveable! It was not caused by a massive explosion, a sabotage or something devious and untraceable. It was caused by the axle dropping on the track. They know about it.

It would not happen again.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a one in fifty years happening. Not to worry.

Virgo49 said...

What's you expect the ex Minister of Transport busy drinking his branded whisky and riding his Brompton Bike.

Luckily this Humpty Dumpty do not fall like that Bidamn eating ice cream imbecile.

Also watching English PL in UK and all their What's Theatre Classical Plays free of charge.

Also dancing Bollywood Dances with his countrymen in the Hotel Suites.

Back to ex CEO Cleopatra Saw's days where cable lugs are attached to the rails.

Train with 35 years running still running ah?

35 break points? What's the maintenance crews doing ah?

Soon fares already increased!

Napping? Just like that tunnel floods when they did not make any inspections as due.

All these Ministers and Top Brasses of the Evil Service just switched off and pays collect and corrected Sirs/Madams.

No eyes see.

Anonymous said...

Just get the ERP engineers to work on it, the ERP has never broken down

Virgo49 said...

Just to add poor Ah Wong ah so eager to take that PeeAyam's seat ah!

That's incumbent faster chabok when he knew time is up for the coming collapse ah!

Ah Wong going to collect all the Shits!

Massive unemployment and collapsed of the Global Economy with the UAssA Kaput.

Sinkies still in dreamland ah queuing for IPhone 16 or 6?

No eyes see!

Anonymous said...

More like 2 persons working & 8 others watching. Meanwhile the management will be siting in their comfortable office to discuss about how to turn the problem created into how good they are in managing this problem and therefore can justify the transport fares increase later this year as well as factor in how much year end bonus they can expect with the fares increase.

Anonymous said...

Red Dot's GDP growth is shrinking fast if not for the bricks and mortar sector. The days of wine and roses are over, and Red Dotters better be prepared for more difficult days ahead. The throwing of chicken wings cannot go on forever. The burden will be carried on the shoulders of future generations to come.

Now the shops around the MRT breakdown stations are indicating that business has dropped by 20%. Are they insinuating that the Government must now compensate them for the loss of business? It looks likely so from their intentions.

Singaporeans have now developed a habit of crying for help when things go a little bit off the rails. It is a very dangerous development of a 'dependence mentality'. In time to come we may become what is known up North as a 'clutch mentality' that will be difficult to get rid of once entrenched. And entrenched it is becoming so.

Anonymous said...

Their problems, you pay. Good reason to hike fares.

Anonymous said...

Singapore is the least corrupt country in the world. Corruption also very difficult to prove and to charge and to convict.

Anonymous said...

Two types of train engineers can be useful to Singapore. One type maintain a train system that has very low breakdowns. So hiring them would have low breakdowns. Second type, from train system that has many breakdowns. Their engineers would be very experienced to deal with breakdowns.

Anonymous said...

Million$ salaried Transport minister must resign !

Anonymous said...

Cannot like that say lah. Resign where to find another Singapore talent? Sekali find a village foreign talent lagi susah.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, cannot say like that one. With Iswaran, things were doing fine, until he got caught. New Transport Minister had to be found. If they were to engage one from India, I think I will avoid taking the MRT, LOL.

Anonymous said...

Why the train axle box can drop off so suddenly? ...hmmmm... not fasten fully, something fractured inside, too high work load causing breakage, reached the life span or endurance level, weather conditions etc...thought they already checked and passed the functionality tests but still breakdown. But don't miss out something, an unnatural "heaven or divine intervention" (probably citizens were cursing to the G why the hell every year keep increasing the transport fares), as the saying goes "人在作, 天在看” or people doings heaven watching.

Anonymous said...

Must be that the 6.04 million load is too heavy for the trains. Overloaded trains caused the rails to break apart, and the faulty train delivered the final touch. Just my half cents worth lah!