Blue Line slows down, Pragati Maidan station worst hit

Commuters had a hard time reaching their destinations as train service on Blue Line was running slow for the whole of afternoon on Wednesday. The worst hit was Pragati Maidan station where the footfall is high these days due to the ongoing trade fair.

Trains were running at a restricted speed on the entire corridor from Noida City Centre to Dwarka.

“It took me one hour to reach Dwarka Metro station from Dwarka sector 21 station. I would have reached office in the same time which in Greater Kailash had I taken the bus,” said Ankur Vats a private firm employee. “Finally I deboarded at Dwarka Metro station and took a bus,” he added.

There was bunching of trains as the services were running slow. “I had to let go four trains as they were overcrowded. Even on the fifth train I had to shove fellow passengers to get in,” said Sonia Verma, a Delhi University student.

“Trains were not leaving platform for around 10 minutes or so,” she added while boarding Metro at Mayur Vihar Phase 1.

There was a sea of people at Pragati Maidan station. “There was no space to even stand properly. We were getting pushed by other passengers.

I waited for nearly 40 minutes before I could take the Metro,” said Tina Luthra, a homemaker who had come to the trade fair at Pragati Maidan.

 Even the staff deployed at the station to monitor crowd said that the rush is beyond expectation. “Today is the busiest day of all and the delay in services has made the matters worst,” said a guard near automated fare collection gates.

Announcements about the delay in services were being made on the Metro premises and inside the trains as well. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been running extra trains in view of the India International Trade Fair.