The Delhi Metro was once again hit by a glitch in its overhead electrification (OHE) system that caused massive inconvenience to the commuters. The pantograph of the train got entangled with the overhead wire and snapping it near Indraprastha Metro Station. As the wire snapped, the electricity supply to the train was disrupted bringing the train services to abrupt halt on the busiest corridor of the Delhi Metro network.
This is not the first time that the Metro trains have encountered problem with the pantograph which supplies electricity from the OHE to the train. There have been incidents in the past when electricity supply to the trains was disrupted due to flashing in OHE. At times, malfunctioning of the pantographs too led to disruption of train services. Sources said a glitch in the electrification system was the most common as it involves multiple factors like like voltage fluctuation, pantograph defect or problem in transition of power supply from one source to another. Sources said in majority of the cases, these factors were found to the cause of the snag.
According to Delhi Metro officials, flashing in the pantograph of the train can damage the over head electrification (OHE) wires from which the trains derive power. This can have cascading effect as a problem in the OHE wire can damage the pantographs of other trains and the electrification system can further get damaged onwards. A similar incident was reported in November 2010 when pantograph of a train moving towards Huda City Centre from Jahangirpuri flashed at Udyog Bhawan which damaged the overhead electrification (OHE) wires. This affected the pantograph of some more trains which in turn affected the OHE lines further on towards Gurgaon and thus disrupting the services for more than four hours. This was the first time, the electrification fault was caused over a long stretch of 30 kms.