Battlestar Galactica rollercoasters reopen at Universal Studios Singapore

Battlestar Galactica has finally returned to action. Image: Ronnie Liew (License)

Universal Studios Singapore has reopened the Battlestar Galactica dueling rollercoasters, almost a year after an incident during routine testing forced their closure.

The coasters, dubbed Human and Cyclon, reopened on Monday, February 21, reclaiming their position among the park's headline attractions. Battlestar Galactica was forced to close after the incident in March 2010, which came just a week after Universal Studios Singapore first opened to the public.

Battlestar Galactica's problems created global headlines after it was revealed that a seat flew off one of the ride's trains during a routine test. The fault was attributed to fatigue cracks in the component which attaches the seats to the trains, which ultimately resulted in one shearing off. Manufacturer Vekoma has since replaced the original welded parts with new machined ones, and the new parts have undergone severe stress-testing.

Located in the Sci-Fi City area of the park, Battlestar Galactica first opened to the public on March 18, 2010. Cyclon is an inverted coaster and features several inversions, while Human features none and is a sit-down steel coaster. Both coasters feature a launched start, and at a height of 140ft are the tallest dueling rollercoasters in the world.

Universal Studios Singapore has suffered from major teething problems since opening, with two major rides in particular causing headaches for the park's management. In addition to Battlestar Galactica, the Madagascar: A Crate Adventure family boat ride has had a troubled gestation period, and is yet to open at all despite originally being scheduled to debut alongside the rest of the park. However, recent reports have suggested that final testing is taking place and the ride should open to the public imminently.

With a new a new attraction based on the Transformers movies also set to open later in 2011, Universal Studios Singapore is effectively set to open three major attractions inside the space of a year.

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