Services of Namma Metro were partially affected on Thursday morning on Reach 1 between Byappanahalli and Mahatma Gandhi Road following derailment of a road-cum-rail battery-powered loco between Swami Vivekananda Road and Indiranagar stations.
The vehicle, which was on test on the live track, got derailed on the up line (towards Mahatma Gandhi Road) and restoration took some time, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) said.
While services were completely affected between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., partial services started at 8 a.m. Normal services resumed at 10.20 a.m., a press release said.
Waiting for the train
As a result, hundreds of passengers could not board the train till 8 a.m. while only limited service was available till 10.20 a.m. K. Suryaprakash, a senior structural engineer and a regular patron of Namma Metro, told The Hindu he saw at least three acquaintances — who take different schedules — waiting when he reached the Byappanahalli station just after 8.20 a.m.
All of them told him they had been twiddling their thumbs from 8 a.m. The first available train from Byappanahalli towards M.G. Road left at 8.40 a.m., he said, a fact confirmed by the security personnel at the entrance who informed passengers that the train to M.G. Road was only at 8.40 a.m.
Mr. Suryaprakash said he understood there was some mishap when he saw a vehicle on the sharp curve between Swami Vivekananda Road and Indiranagar 100 Ft. Road and that the train was plying only on a single track.
However, the service was normal when he returned home at around 2.30 p.m., he said.
A BMRCL spokesperson told The Hindu that a loco, meant to haul the train during emergencies, was on a test run on Wednesday night when it derailed. Asked whether the rails got damaged, the spokesperson answered in the negative and said normal services were restored on the up line after thorough inspection of the track.
A senior BMRCL official said services on both directions were operated on the single line between 8 a.m. and 10.20 a.m. using single platforms at metro stations, leading to cancellation of 12 trips.
