MADRID (AP) — A Spanish bullet train stranded 109 passengers in a small town after the engineer said his shift had ended for the night and refused to go any further.

State rail company Renfe said in a statement Wednesday that the Santander to Madrid express train stopped at the station in Osorno less than halfway to the Spanish capital.

The rail company organized buses and taxis to take the passengers to their destinations after the train came to a halt at 9.15 p.m. (1915 GMT) Tuesday.

Renfe says railway rules limit the number of hours engineers may work each day for safety reasons.

The company apologized to passengers and opened an internal investigation.

Osorno has a population of just over 1,000.