SINGAPORE — Fifty commuters were trapped in a stalled train along the Thomson-East Coast line on Wednesday morning (April 27). 

In a Facebook post, train operator SMRT said that the fault occurred between Woodlands and Woodlands South stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line at about 6.30am.

SMRT engineers were immediately activated to rectify the fault and the commuters eventually disembarked at Woodlands station at about 8.10am. 

SMRT added that there was full lighting and ventilation in the stalled train while the commuters were on board. 

During the train fault, the operator said that train services were still available, although commuters could experience delays of up to 25 minutes in their travel time. 

Free regular bus and bridging bus services were also available between Woodlands North and Caldecott stations, said SMRT. 

At 9.09am, SMRT announced on Twitter that train services had fully resumed.  

Facebook user Audrey Lee commented on SMRT's Facebook post saying that commuters had waited for the bridging buses for an hour "with no bus in sight". 

Another Facebook user Jes Goh said: "Waited almost half an hour for the bridging bus at Lentor station, it never came, and I got to find (an) alternative way to travel."

The section where Wednesday train's fault happened began operations in 2020 in the first-stage opening of the line.

The second stage opened on Aug 28 last year, following two delays to its opening date.  

The first delay was due to the Covid-19 pandemic while the second delay came after the Land Transport Authority conducted a system review following a five-hour disruption of the line in December 2020 due to a signalling fault. 

On March 9 this year, Transport Minister S Iswaran announced that 11 more Thomson-East Coast Line stations are expected to start service in the second half of this year.