Commuters on a North East Line (NEL) train that broke down between Punggol and Woodleigh on Wednesday evening had to walk through train tunnels to Hougang station in order to exit.

Transport minister Lui Tuck Yew wrote in a Facebook post that commuters were stuck on the affected train for an " unacceptably long period" before they were eventually detrained and asked to walk.

He said Northbound commuters were also affected as they were required to disembark at Woodleigh and continue their journey by bus.

Minister Lui wrote: "I know that this must be a frustrating and uncomfortable experience for affected commuters who are trying to get home or to their destination. The whole situation was also made much worse by the haze."

"I am dismayed at how this incident was managed by SBST. Commuters expect and deserve better," added Minister Lui. SBST (and SMRT) must learn from this and be better prepared. I expect them to manage incidents of this nature much better in the future.

Train services on the North East Line were affected by a two-hour disruption on Wednesday evening.