SINGAPORE - A train fault in Clementi held up thousands of commuters heading for work on Thursday (Oct 15) morning on the East-West MRT line.

Operator SMRT tweeted that trains were moving slower than usual towards the east, and that travel time between Clementi and Queenstown would take 15 minutes more or so. Later, it revised the delay to 20 minutes.

Its tweet was posted at around 10am.

But passengers already knew something was not right earlier.

Stockbroker Cole Cheong, 48, was among those affected. Mr Cheong said his commute to work in the city was "15 to 20 minutes longer" than usual.

"The train was moving very slowly, and stopped a few times between Chinese Garden and Buona Vista," he said, adding that it resumed normal speed only after Buona Vista.

At 10.17am, SMRT tweeted to say the faulty train had been cleared, and services were now "operating normally" between Clementi and Queenstown.