Cable catches fire in tunnel at Newton MRT station

SINGAPORE: A cable caught fire in the tunnel at Newton station, causing train services on the North—South Line to be disrupted on Wednesday morning.

SMRT said the fire has been put out.

In a tweet by SMRT, it said northbound train service from Marina Bay to Toa Payoh is expected to resume at 11:25am.

In a statement, SMRT said the incident happened at around 9:05am.

Free bus services were activated immediately between Newton and Toa Payoh stations.

In addition, the train operator said bus bridging services were provided for commuters between Marina Bay and Toa Payoh stations.

At 10am, the northbound train service between Marina Bay and Toa Payoh was disrupted as traction power was switched off for the removal of the damaged cable.

At 10:40am, SMRT said it is working closely with the police and SCDF to recover train services. It advised affected passengers to take free bus services available at affected stations, the Circle Line or the North East Line.

SCDF said they were informed of the incident at 9:04am and despatched two red rhinos, two fire engines, two fire bikes, two support vehicles and an ambulance to the Newton station.

SCDF added that the fire involved electrical wiring about five metres away from the platform of the station.

The fire was extinguished using fire extinguishers and a small quantity of foam.

It added that no injuries have been reported so far.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.

— CNA/ck

[View the story "Newton MRT Fire" on Storify]

Newton MRT Fire

A fire has broken out at the Newton MRT station & train services on the North South Line are affected

Storified by channelnewsasia Tue, Feb 12 2013 18:14:41