SINGAPORE - Commuters passing through the one-north Circle Line MRT station on Wednesday (Nov 16) afternoon were met with the troubling sight of a severely-cracked glass panel along the platform.

The panel, which was along the train tracks but visible from the platform, was damaged due to a "material defect" in the glass, rail operator SMRT Corp said, following initial investigations.

"Our staff immediately cordoned off the area as a precaution for commuter safety, although the glass on the station side was not affected," said Mr Patrick Nathan, SMRT's vice-president for corporate information and communications.

He told The Straits Times on Thursday (Nov 17) that the damaged glass panel was replaced after service hours.

Photos of the cracked panel appeared on the Hardware Zone forum and on Facebook following the incident, eliciting concern from netizens about safety.

In May last year, a glass panel in the cabin of an East-West Line train shattered. The panel was located next to the seat reserved for the elderly and pregnant women. Nobody was hurt in the incident.