In less than a month, the Delhi Metro witnessed yet another major snag on Wednesday when an Over-Head Electrification (OHE) wire snapped for the second time giving a harrowing experience to thousands of commuters during the evening peak hours. Metro services were disrupted for over two and a half hours on the Dwarka-Noida/Vaishali line leaving scores of people stranded at various stations.
Unlike the previous incident that occurred on May 7 where the OHE line was restored within an hour and a half, repairing on this one took several hours resulting in overcrowding. For this, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has set up an enquiry to look into the reasons for the delay in restoration of services. Stations like Rajiv Chowk, Vaishali, Noida City Centre, Barakhamba, Janakpuri West and Pragati Madian were chock-a-block with people waiting for the Metro. However, no Metro station was shut during the incident.
The snag-prone 44-km Dwarka-Noida/ Vaishali line (line 3) caters to about eight lakh commuters a day. Wednesday’s incident led to chaos in several stations. “It was at 6:43 pm that a Dwarka-bound train got stuck around 300 metres away from the Dwarka station while it was coming from Dwarka Mor station. The service was disrupted as the pantograph of the train got entangled with a strand of the Over-Head Electrification (OHE) wire,” said a DMRC official. The incident took place at a time when metro runs at an interval of only two to three minutes making it the busiest corridor.
Because of the snag, Metro trains were operational on a single line between Dwarka and Janakpuri West, a DMRC official said. Due to short loop running between Janakpuri West and Rajiv Chowk station, trains were delayed by almost 45 minutes and more, leaving commuters stranded at stations since 6.45 pm. Operations on the Blue line were restored by 9.10 pm.
Rajiv Chowk station, the busiest station of the Delhi Metro network, which is usually crowded during the evening peak hour on working days, was packed due to the snag. So much was the crowd that even the foot-over bridge joining the two platforms on the line 3 section had no space to stand. “like other commuters, I was stuck for more than one-and-a-half hour. It is unbelievable that such an incident has happened with DMRC which is known to give supreme service. Commuters have to suffer every now and then because of ineffective arrangements,” said Richa Kaul, an IT professional.
As continuous announcements on the public address system started after 6:45 pm about the technical snag with no assurance of an early rectification, commuters started to leave the station. This, however, led to overcrowding at the AFC gates even as hordes of commuters trying the station continued unabated.