Electrical glitch hits operations for over an hour on Metro’s Blue Line
Due to an overhead electrification glitch, only singleline services were running between the Kirti Nagar and Barakhamba Road stations.
DMRC SPOKESPERSON
NEW DELHI : Thousands of commuters were stuck inside trains and on stations after the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro after technical snags disrupted operations for over an hour on Thursday afternoon.
The rail link is the busiest line of the Delhi Metro network and has reported snags frequently.
Due to an overhead electrification glitch only single-line services were running between Kirti Nagar and Barakhamba Road stations on the line running between Dwarka Sector-21 and Noida City Centre/vaishali, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said in an official statement.
The snag was reported in the contact wire of the overhead electrification at 2:05 pm, affecting train services on the 50-kmlong line, till 3:35pm.
Several commuters complained of running behind schedule because of the snag. Commuters complained that cabs and autos charged inflated rates because of the high demand.
Traffic snarls in areas along Rajendra Place, Patel Nagar, Karol Bagh, Jhandewalan and RK Ashram were also reported.
“It took me an hour-and-a-half to reach only midway from my destination. I got out and tried to take an auto but the drivers were demanding much higher than usual,” said Sakshi Sinha, an IT engineer, who was racing against the clock to reach her office in Noida Sector-16.
DMRC said the problem took place between Karol Bagh and RK Ashram, but the effect of the snag could be seen throughout the section.
Several trains were also emptied because of which passengers crowded at stations.
“The train was emptied at Kirti Nagar and I had to wait for around 10 minutes for another train, which was extremely crowded. Even then, the train was stopping after every few minutes,” said Rajesh Tripathy, who was travelling from west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar to Mandi House.
Commuters also took to social media to vent their frustration.
“You realise the true nature of Delhi Metro being the soul of Delhi transport system only during a delay or a tech snag, leading to disorder among the people. Blue Line is facing some tech fault as per DMRC somewhere b/w Karol Bagh to Vaishali,” (sic) tweeted Tahir Javid Tantray.