Emergency vehicle breakdown causes big metro disruption

The Green Line connects Nagasandra in the north to Silk Institute in the south and is nearly 30 km long.

A road-rail vehicle used for emergency repairs broke down on the elevated metro track in northern Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday, disrupting train services for nearly 10 hours and plunging the morning rush hour into utter chaos.

Thousands of passengers experienced a nightmarish return to work after a long weekend as Namma Metro completely stopped running trains to four stations located in the middle of the Green Line.

Metro staff attend to the road-rail emergency vehicle stuck on the track in Rajajinagar. The vehicle was later removed with a crane. DH PHOTO/PRASHANTH HG

Soon after the day’s operations began around 5 am, Namma Metro announced that train services would be available only between Nagasandra and Yeshwantpur and between Mantri Square-Sampige Road and Silk Institute stations. It subsequently closed the stations at Sandal Soap Factory, Mahalakshmi Layout, Rajajinagar, and Mahakavi Kuvempu Road.

The road-rail vehicle (RRV) broke down around 3.30 am while moving on a curve track after the Rajajinagar metro station.

“After depot testing, the RRV was under mandatory trials from the Peenya depot to the National College metro station at curve locations during non-operational hours. During the trials at Rajajinagar, its rear road-rail wheel got jammed and could not be retrieved even with the help of the other RRV,” Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said in a statement.

Things slightly improved around 8 am when trains began running on the other track. However, this caused overcrowding at several stations.  For the next eight hours, metro stations presented contrasting scenes. Some saw a huge rush, while others were relatively deserted.

Many commuters who boarded the trains between 7.30 am and 7.50 am from Nagasandra were stranded at the Yeshwantpur station. They had a tough time making it to schools, colleges and workplaces.

Seeing the opportunity to make a quick buck, auto drivers charged exorbitant prices, and commuters were left with no choice but to pay.

Nagasandra resident Sanish Singh’s daughter had to attend an exam at 8.15 am at NPS Rajajinagar. At 7.40 am, she took a train from Nagasandra. Seventeen minutes into the journey, the train came to a halt at Yeshwantpur, and passengers were asked to get down. She had to hire an auto at an exorbitant fare to reach the school, Singh said.

Another commuter, Subhash Shetty, said it took him nearly an hour and a half to reach Majestic from Nagasandra by bus. “I had to reach KR Circle from Majestic. But no auto driver obliged and I had to wait for another bus,” he said.

After curtailing train operations between Yeshwantpur and Sampige Road at 2 pm, the BMRCL deployed a crane to lift the RRV from the track. The process took about 40 minutes, and train operations were restored at 3.40 pm. “The RRV was lowered onto the road and sent back to the depot where it will undergo an examination,” a BMRCL official said.  

What caused the technical snag?

The road-rail vehicle (RVR) that broke down on the elevated metro track in Rajajinagar is a sophisticated emergency vehicle used in public transportation systems.

As the name suggests, it can be used on rail tracks and road surfaces. When fully loaded, it can carry up to 17 tonnes.

The BMRCL has six such vehicles, including four procured recently, as it prepares to open more metro lines.

“An RVR has all the necessary equipment to deal with emergency situations. For example, it has cutters and hydraulic jacks. These are used to break the door of a coach and rescue stranded passengers. It can even pull a train,” a senior BMRCL official explained.

The official continued: “Unlike on the road, the RVR must be delicately steered on the rail. There’s a lot of back-and-forth. During the process, the RVR’s front and rear guiding wheels were jammed.”

The official clarified that there was no train derailment as some reports suggested.

“The derailment was only with the RRV, not with any train,” he added.  

Following the breakdown, between 6.30 am and 2 pm, metro trains were run only on the second track. Short-loop services were run between Yeshwantpur and Sampige Road from 6.30 am onwards and between Rajajinagar and Sampige Road from 8.30 am onwards.

The BMRCL estimates that its ridership fell by about 5% because of the disruption.