Services on Delhi Metro railway were affected for over six hours on Thursday, leaving thousands of commuters stranded and clueless on Lines 3 and 4. The delay came on a day when more than the usual number of people were expected to travel by the metro because of traffic restrictions due to BRICS Summit.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation attributed the problem to a signalling failure. “Metro train services on Dwarka Sector-21 to Noida City Centre and Yamuna Bank to Vaishali lines were affected today [Thursday] for few hours due to track circuit or signalling failure near Pragati Maidan metro station,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
“Metro trains going towards Dwarka from Noida City Centre and Vaishali side moved on a restricted speed of up to 25 kilometres per hour between Pragati Maidan and Mandi House section from 8-45 a.m. to 2-12 p.m.,” added the spokesperson.
Because of the slower train speed, bunching of trains occurred at several locations, and the sections between Noida City Centre to Indraprastha and Yamuna Bank to Vaishali were worst hit. Commuters complained of being stuck for over two hours on stretched that normally take 15 or 20 minutes.
“I boarded the metro at the Noida City Centre station at 9-30 a.m. and got off at Rajiv Chowk around 12-15 p.m. The stretch usually takes around 35 minutes. No announcements were made explaining the delay and there were stoppages ran into 15 to 20 minutes. Sometimes the trains even stopped before the station platforms,” said IT marketing professional Jayesh Kumar.
Lack of information
The lack of information for the delay led to speculation and in some cases, panic inside the metro. “Some people said there was a technical snag causing the delay. A woman sitting next to me got fidgety because the train was stuck inside the tunnel for around 15 minutes. She de-boarded the minute it stopped at the next station,” said advertising professional Rachna Singh who took over an hour to reach the Mayur Vihar station from Noida City Centre.
With services affected for over five hours, one of the worst hit was the interchange station at Rajiv Chowk, where the number of commuters kept piling up. Several people got off the slow moving trains and opted for alternative modes of public transport to reach their destinations. Some headed for Dwarka Sector- 21 got off at New Delhi station and took the Airport Metro Express.
The other metro routes were largely unaffected by the delay.
