October 14, 2020, 11:27 PM
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A power fault on the North-South, East-West and Circle Lines at the same time on Oct. 14 evening peak hour wreaked havoc for thousands of commuters on their way home.
Train services on these three MRT lines were disrupted between Jurong East and Marsiling, Serangoon and HarbourFront, as well as Clementi and Tuas Link.
Train services along North-South and East-West lines were first disrupted at around 7pm.
Large crowds, overwhelmed shuttle buses
SMRT said train services were restored progressively from 8:45pm, but long queues and crowds formed at the bus stops right outside of affected MRT stations, including Clementi, Buona Vista and Queenstown MRT stations.
mrt singapore power failure. look at the crowd at queenstown mrt stn :O
— cla met enha ðŸ˜ðŸ’• (@eaturicex) October 14, 2020
stay safe everyone !! #smrt #smrtsingapore pic.twitter.com/0wSeCkr9sv
Image via Mothership reader
Photo via Ashley Tan
Police officers stepped in
According to at least one Instagram story by @TechnicallyBrian, the first free shuttle bus at Queenstown MRT was overwhelmed with an agitated crowd, who allegedly rocked the bus.
He told Mothership that the crowd was angry and that there was only one shuttle bus that came after more than half an hour.
Image via TechnicallyBrian's IG story
Police officers allegedly had to yell at commuters to manage the situation.
He also noticed that several commuters hurled complaints about the lack of social distance and wanting to go home.
Grab surge
Stranded commuters who attempted to book a private hire car out of the area were met with a surge in ride prices.
https://twitter.com/Official_NHR/status/1316352686686519296
Walk on train tracks
Footage of commuters walking on train tracks have been circulating online.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGUveRpnFoE/
A Facebook user shared a video of commuters walking on the train tracks along the North-South Line.
According to one Mothership reader, she had to walk in the rain for seven minutes to get to Bukit Batok station after her train stalled in the middle of the tracks around 8:45pm.
Services resumed
According to the latest update by SMRT on Twitter, train services have resumed.
Mothership understands that trains are up as running as usual at Woodlands, headed towards Jurong East.
Train service on EWL and NSL have resumed. Free regular bus services and free bridging bus services are still available between Queenstown and Tuas Link, and between Jurong East and Woodlands.
— SMRT Corporation (@SMRT_Singapore) October 14, 2020
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Top image via Ashley Tan and TechnicallyBrian
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