A problem with the over-head electrification (OHE) system on a part of the Dwarka-Noida City Centre corridor on Friday morning left hundreds of commuters stranded at various stations on the Blue Line. Heavy rain could be one of the reasons for the snag, said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson, adding that the exact reason for the problem was not clear.
The snag developed around 11-40 a.m. and lasted for a duration of one hour and 10 minutes. It was caused due to an OHE problem between Karol Bagh and R.K. Ashram stations. The DMRC decided to run loop services to tide over the delays. “Due to an OHE problem between Karol Bagh and R.K. Ashram stations, train services were run in three loops on Line 3 — a short loop between Karol Bagh and Dwarka Sector-21; one from Barakhamba to Noida/Vaishali; and a third single line between Karol Bagh and Barakhamba stations. Normalcy was restored by 12-50 p.m.,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
Stations along the line, such as the usually busy Rajiv Chowk, were chock-a-block with stranded passengers and announcements were made that ventilation and lights are running on battery system. It was a harrowing experience for those commuters trying to reach Central Delhi as rains continued to come down hard on the Capital.
This is the third such incident of delays on the Metro network. Last month, Metro services on the same line were disrupted owing to a similar electrification problem. In early June, a train going towards Huda City Centre broke down in the middle of a tunnel between Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan stations. There were 1,791 passengers on board that train and the snag had sent the entire Yellow Line (Jahangirpuri – HUDA City Centre) into a tizzy.
