Commuters suffer as technical snag hits Metro

Thousands of commuters fumed and sweated it out walking long distance as Delhi Metro trains – the lifeline of the busy metropolis that ferry over 26 lakh people daily – were held up for over two hours on Wednesday evening.

The services were hit on Blue Line – Dwarka to Noida City Centre/Vaishali – due to a technical snag on the ‘overhead extension wire’ between Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha stations.

It caused bunching of trains on the entire Blue Line and affected services on Yellow Line as well.

A Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson said train services were made available in two loops on Line 3 Dwarka to Barakhamba Road and Yamuna Bank to Noida and Vaishali to carry out repair work of the overhead extension wire.

“No services were available between Yamuna Bank and Barakhamba Road from 6.40 pm till 7.40 pm and normalcy was restored thereafter,” the spokesperson said.

From 6 pm, the trains started arriving at platforms of all the corridors at an interval of over half-an-hour. The crowd at platforms started swelling, turning the situation chaotic. Commuters were forced to take autorickshaws.

“I got the news that there was some problem with the Metro, so I decided to take an autorickshaw,” a private firm employee Sneha said at 7 pm.

Triggered by a snag in an overhead electric cable on the Yamuna Bank-Indraprastha station stretch, the Metro service disruption started at 5.50 pm.

Unable to manage the unruly crowd, the authorities pulled down the shutters of its underground stations in New Delhi area, including Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat.

Traffic snarls

The Metro snag fuelled traffic snarls on busy roads like Vikas Marg, ITO, Vijay Chowk, India Gate, Red Fort ground, Rajpath, Rafi Marg, Janpath, Mansingh Road, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Subahash Marg.

“I thought of going by road, but it was worse as it took me almost two hours to reach Mayur Vihar Phase-I from Jhandewalan,” Arvind Singh, who works in Jhandewalan, said.
A private company staffer Bhanu Yadav, who was coming from ITO, said he saw a large number of people coming out from Pragati Maidan station. “They spilled on to the road, blocking traffic,” he said.

Another commuter Anu Nigam, an IT professional, said that he had to wait for half-an-hour at Akshardham station for a train to Noida.

“And even after the train arrived, it was jam packed. I had to fight to get inside and after travelling for an hour, I reached Noida Sector 15 station, which usually takes less than 20 minutes,” Nigam said.

 The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that services were restored after 7.40 pm, but commuters faced problem till 8.30 pm. Many passengers said that Rajiv Chowk station was closed and entry was not allowed as there was no proper service.