SINGAPORE — Train services on the Circle Line (CCL) broke down late last night (Dec 18) between the HarbourFront and Stadium stations - affecting train services at 23 stations, out of a total of 28 CCL stations - frustrating commuters who were stranded with few public transport options left operating.

SMRT sent out a tweet at 11.42pm saying there were no train services in both directions, and advised commuters to seek alternative transport. Eight minutes later, it tweeted to say that free shuttle services were available to shuttle stranded commuters between affected stops. It sent out a third tweet just before 1am saying the shuttle services had ceased operations.

One commuter, who declined to give her name, told TODAY that she had boarded the train at Dhoby Ghaut Station. Somewhere between the Marymount and Caldecott stations, the train stopped, and some of the lights went out. “They started making announcements every five minutes, saying that there had been a power failure and asked for our patience,” said the 35-year-old, who works in customer service.

After about 20 minutes, they were allowed to get off the train and into the tunnel, where they walked to Caldecott Station. “What I thought was bad was that (the staff) did not help the elderly commuters when they were getting off the train, and the height from the train onto the tunnel was quite high,” she added.

SMRT said in a statement this morning that a “power trip failure” had occurred at 11.21pm, with preliminary investigations showing that a Land Transport Authority (LTA) contractor had damaged a cable during a power cable replacement exercise.

It added that power to the network was restored at 4.00am, and train services on the CCL will resume as per normal this morning.