Third NSL MRT breakdown in a week on Tuesday morning

South-bound train service on the North-South Line (NSL) was crippled for close to half an hour early Tuesday (April 26^th) morning - the third time in less than a week that Singapore's oldest MRT line has suffered a disruption, reported The Straits Times. 

NSL operator SMRT said in a tweet at 6:31am that there was no service from Woodlands to Kranji stations, and advised commuters to seek alternative transport. It said in a subsequent tweet that the breakdown was due to a traction power fault, while free public and shuttle buses were activated at affected stations.

Normal service resumed about 18 minutes later at around 6:49am, according to SMRT. In its latest update at 7:20am, SMRT said some trains and stations were still crowded due to congestion.

In a statement on Facebook, SMRT apologised to commuters and said it was investigating the cause to determine if it was related to the disruption on Monday (April 25^th) evening. Tuesday morning's disruption comes less than 12 hours after a power dip caused an unprecedented breakdown of train services along three MRT lines and one LRT line.