to the opposite side of Bukit Timah Road underneath the Bukit Timah Canal. It was initially considered to use the conventional cut-and-cover method to construct the underpass but there were a few problems with the method. The method would involve disrupting the vehicular traffic on Bukit Timah Road, and obstructing the water flow of the canal, which could potentially lead to the flooding of the road, the station and the tunnels. An alternative method – the open-face tunnelling method used by miners – was then employed and was proven successful, without the need to disrupt the traffic on Bukit Timah Road. The station eventually opened on 20 June 2003 as Little India station. The station name change was opposed by the Singapore Heritage Society, which claimed that the new name was 'misleading', suggesting that the area was the 'main abode of Indians'. They had advocated keeping the name "Kandang Kerbau", which means 'buffalo shed' in Malay, as it best reflects the area's heritage. Downtown line The DTL station was first announced as part of DTL2 (Downtown line Stage 2) on 15 July 2008. Contract 921 for the design and construction of Little India station and tunnels was awarded to SsangYong Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd at a contract value of in June 2009, linking the DTL with the NEL at this station. The contract also included the construction of the adjacent Rochor station. Construction of the station was scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2009 and targeted to be completed by 2015. The construction of the DTL station involves navigating through the large boulders underground. A section of the DTL tunnel below the NEL tunnels have to be manually mined due to the hard ground and the huge boulders. A boulder the size of a double-decker bus was also broken into smaller pieces using specialised hydraulic machinery during the construction. The station opened on 27 December 2015 along with the other DTL Stage 2 stations. Incidents On 20 December 2012, train services on the North East line was delayed due to a train fault. A statement from SBS Transit said there was no train service between Punggol and Little India due to a train fault. Free bus rides were made available at designated bus stops near affected NEL stations. At about 5.18 pm, all train services resumed. SBS Transit has apologised for the inconvenience caused. On 24 April