Did you know that your shiny, metallic helium balloons could disrupt MRT train services?
One such disruption did happen on April 6 last year.
In that incident, train services on the NEL were disrupted for close to an hour in both directions between Farrer Park and Boon Keng stations due to a power trip.
What happened
was that a passenger had accidentally released an aluminium foil helium
balloon, which slipped into the tunnel at Boon Keng Station when the
platform screen doors were opened.
The balloon then came into contact with an electrical insulator of the overhead catenary system - the power supply system installed on the ceiling of the train tunnel - and caused an electrical fault.
Said Professor Liew Ah Choy from the National University of Singapore's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department: "The aluminium foil is an electrical conductor and when it comes into contact with the live overhead wires a short circuit occurs. This would trigger the circuit breakers to trip, to prevent further damage to the electrical equipment."
The 16-station NEL is the only MRT line here powered by overhead catenary systems instead of a power-supplying rail on the ground.
Posters have recently been put up at stations on the North East Line (NEL) to remind commuters to hold on tightly to their balloons.
http://on.fb.me/1W0F4s5
The balloon then came into contact with an electrical insulator of the overhead catenary system - the power supply system installed on the ceiling of the train tunnel - and caused an electrical fault.
Said Professor Liew Ah Choy from the National University of Singapore's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department: "The aluminium foil is an electrical conductor and when it comes into contact with the live overhead wires a short circuit occurs. This would trigger the circuit breakers to trip, to prevent further damage to the electrical equipment."
The 16-station NEL is the only MRT line here powered by overhead catenary systems instead of a power-supplying rail on the ground.
Posters have recently been put up at stations on the North East Line (NEL) to remind commuters to hold on tightly to their balloons.
http://on.fb.me/1W0F4s5
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