‘Pin break’ halts Metro, spoils Rakhi festivities

STUCK ON TRACKS DMRC says breaking of a copper split pin triggered snag in overhead wire, passengers had to deboard on tracks at four stations on Yellow line

NEWDELHI: Raksha Bandhan celebrations turned into a nightmare for thousands of Delhi Metro commuters on Sunday as trains on a portion of the Yellow line — that connects north Delhi to Haryana’s Gurugram — came to a standstill due to a technical snag.

Passengers travelling on the Samaypur Badli-huda City Centre corridor faced a harrowing time for over three hours — from 9:55am to around 12:40pm. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said train operations came to a halt because of supply failure in the over head electrification (OHE).

The snag compelled DMRC to ask passengers to deboard using the emergency exits of the trains. “We had to walk for almost 500 metres in the sun to get to the next station, Arjangarh. I had to go to my sister’s house in Vasant Kunj. The station was so crowded that even getting out was a task. Once out, there were no autorickshaws near the station ,” said Neeraj Bhatt, who was coming from IFFCO Chowk Metro station in Gurugram and had to get down at Chhatarpur station.

The DMRC confirmed that passengers had to be de-boarded from four trains that were near Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur and IFFCO Chowk stations – all located in Gurugram. It also stated that services from HUDA City Centre to Chhatarpur, and vice versa were affected.

Delhi Metro, which has a daily ridership of about 26 lakh people, was scheduled to run 598 extra train trips on Sunday.

“All the preparations by DMRC for Raksha Bandhan have failed. Trains were running only between Samaypur Badli to Qutab Minar station for more than three hour,” said Sugandha Barman, a Delhi University student who wanted to travel to Gurugram from north Delhi’s GTB Nagar.

The impact of the snag caused spillovers on Mehrauli-gurgaon Road, which witnessed traffic snarls during the three hours.

“After waiting for almost an hour at HUDA City Centre, I finally gave up and decided to

YOGENDRA KUMAR/HT PHOTO Passengers wait outside HUDA City Centre Metro station. Metro authorities said they were forced to shut down the entry gates at Huda City Centre and Iffco Chowk stations after Sunday morning’s snag.