New Delhi, May 21, 2019-
Thousands of commuters faced immense inconvenience during the morning rush hours on Tuesday and many had to be evacuated from stuck trains as the Delhi Metro services on the Yellow Line between Haryana’s Huda City and Samaypur Badli in Delhi were stalled for over two hours due to a major technical snag.
Apparently due to power failure at the Chhatarpur metro station, trains coming from Huda City Centre and from Samaypur Badli were halted at Qutab Minar and Sultanpur stations.
Calling it a harrowing experience, people shared videos and pictures of commuters walking on metro tracks after power failure at metro stations.
Scores of passengers got stuck in the trains and had to be evacuated.
“Passengers of two trains between the two metro stations were evacuated this morning after the train services were affected,” the DMRC said in a tweet.
Passengers complained that the evacuation process took so long that several of them started feeling uneasy inside the train.
“The evacuation was carried out after a prolonged wait of over an hour. We kept trying to contact the operator, but in vain. I even suggested breaking a window, but the fellow passengers refused,” said Pankaj Dugar, a commuter.
Due to the massive train delays, the metro stations falling on the line were overcrowded.
Huge crowds could be seen at Hauz Khas, Saket, Malviya Nagar, Chhatarpur and Qutub Minar metro stations. Passengers complained that the gates of the trains were not opening at several stations. Even the air conditioner inside the trains was not functioning, they said.
“The Qutub Minar and Chhatarpur stations got so overcrowded that the entry had to be closed,” said Krishnakant Raj, a commuter.
Another commuter Govind Singh said: “Initially, we are unable to understand what was the actual reason of delay. Then I pressed emergency button and talked to driver. I also asked him to open the door so we could walk on the side emergency pavement of the track. The driver, after five minutes, opened the doors.”
Another commuter Srinivasa Rao Said: “Luckily, the snag occurred on elevated track, if it had happened in a tunnel, we would have had no option other than to stay inside.”
He noted that the Yellow line has the longest tunnel from Qutub Minar to the Vishwa Vidyaylaya metro stations.
The pain of commuters did not end here. In fact the app based taxi service operators immediately applied flexible charges and doubled the price of fare.
“I have to reach my office located at Nirman Bhawan and my nearest station is Udyog Bhawan. I have given Rs 200 to reach from Sultanpur to Saket metro station,” said Nilima Sharma, who works in the CPWD office.
At 1 p.m., the DMRC tweeted: “Normal services have now resumed. Inconvenience is regretted. Please allow for some extra time in your commute till the bunching of trains eases.”
Earlier, the DMRC said that train movement has been partially normalised between Qutub Minar and Chhatarpur metro stations.
“Single line operational at the moment. We will keep you updated,”
“On the other line, the stranded train is being removed. Services will be completely normalised shortly,” it added.
The commuters, however, complained that they were still waiting for up to 30 minutes for a train to arrive at the metro stations.
An hour earlier, the DMRC said that it has rushed a maintenance team to rectify the problem at the earliest.
“Two maintenance teams of DMRC technicians consisting of 16 officials worked urgently to rectify the problem. Temporary restoration has been completed and trains are expected to run at restricted speed between Chhattarpur and Qutub Minar soon,” the DMRC said in a tweet.
Auto drivers made used the occasion and demanded extra fare to the commuters and they also denied giving sharing ride.
“As a result, I paid Rs 175 to reach from Qutub Minar to Ghitorni metro station,” said Kavita Sharma, who work as an executive in MNC in Cyber City Gurugram.
(Agency)
