Passengers stuck in LRT train, some walk on tracks

Passengers in a train on the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT) system were stranded in the car for up to half an hour yesterday afternoon, eventually walking on the tracks to the nearest station. A Straits Times reader sent in photos and videos of people inside the train car, taken from her home nearby. Other images show passengers walking on the tracks, including a woman with a pram.

It was drizzling while they were walking on the tracks towards Petir station, said the reader. LRT services from Choa Chu Kang to Bukit Panjang towards Senja resumed at 2:40pm, while services towards Petir resumed at 3:50pm. Free bridging bus services were provided during the service disruption.

SMRT Vice President of Corporate Communications Margaret Teo said two BPLRT trains encountered faults at around 1:45pm and services were temporarily suspended while its engineers accessed the tracks to rectify the faults. About 90 passengers from the two affected trains were safely detrained and guided to the nearest LRT station by its staff.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the first train had stalled due to the dislodgement of its current collector shoes, said Ms. Teo, adding that SMRT is still investigating the fault with the second train. "We are sorry this has affected your Saturday afternoon. Plans are under way to upgrade the BPLRT system to minimise the occurrence of such faults," she said.