JOIN USMetro coach derails; JE suspended
Two wheels of the front coach of a metro train went off the tracks near the Yamuna Bank station at 6:02 am, causing some panic among the passengers. This was the first train service of the day on the Yamuna Bank-Indraprastha-Dwarka line, said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson. “Fourteen passengers were travelling on the train at that time and no one was injured. The number of commuters was low as this was the first train service on the route (Yamuna Bank-Indraprastha-Dwarka line),” the official said.
A high-level committee comprising three officers in the rank of general manager has been constituted to probe the accident and a junior engineer in charge of track maintenance has been suspended, the spokesperson said. The probe panel consists of general managers—maintenance, rolling stock and signalling and telecom. “Prima facie, the derailment seems to have occurred due to problems related to the track, so the junior engineer in charge of track maintenance has been suspended,” he said.
The spokesman said the passengers were deboarded from the train immediately and sent to Indraprastha station. The DMRC also ran shuttle services between Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha stations to facilitate the passengers.
DMRC Chief Public Relations Officer Anuj Dayal said a 12-member rescue team arrived by road from the Shastri Park Depot to the Yamuna Bank Metro station to put the derailed train back on track. “The rescue team arrived along with RRV (Rail Rerailment Vehicle) at the Yamuna Bank station at 8:28 am and completed the entire rerail exercise by 10:06 am. The whole process was completed in less than two hours,” he said.
Dayal said the train has been sent to the Yamuna Bank Depot for further check and the affected track was checked by a team of experts. “Three rounds of empty train trials were conducted between Yamuna Bank and Indrapratsha Metro stations to check the feasibility of passenger services,” he said.
This is the second instance of a metro coach derailing within a span of one month. On August 12, a coach went off the tracks on the Dwarka-Indraprastha route. All the 40 passengers escaped unhurt.