A power fault disrupted service on the Downtown Line on Friday morning for about 30 minutes, affecting about 1,700 commuters. This caused a stoppage in services in both directions at all six stations from Chinatown to Bugis on the 4.3km line.

In a statement, operator SBS Transit said the fault, which occurred at about 9.35am, was due to a defect in the Uninterruptible Power Supply system at the operations control centre (OCC).

"This affected the OCC's ability to control and monitor train operations. As a result of this, we held back all the trains at the stations' platforms as a safety precaution," said the operator.

SBS Transit and Land Transport Authority engineers checked out the problem, and full service resumed at about 10.10am. The cause of the incident is still being investigated. While service was down, free bus rides and shuttle bus services were provided at the affected stations. SBS Transit activated 14 shuttle buses and more than 90 staff to help commuters. The operator apologised to passengers who were inconvenienced.