New Delhi, Dec 21: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday suspended four of its officials in connection with the Kalindi Kunj Depot Metro rail crash in which the driverless train first went through the Depot and then its wall. Managing Director of DMRC on Wednesday approved the suspension orders of the four officials while reiterating that the incident was caused by a human error and not by the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) technology the Delhi Metro is using for the first time.
“The train’s brakes, which were isolated were not normalized before moving the train on its own power and bringing it for washing at the ramp. As a result, as soon as the operator brought the train at the ramp, it started rolling back, got derailed and hit the wall,” said Anuj Dyal, Director, Corporate Communication of DMRC while emphasising that the mishap was due to human error.
“This small area of the depot is not controlled by the signaling system and, therefore, is subject to human error. We will devise a system to avoid such incidents in future,” Mangu Singh, Managing Director, told TOI.
He also added that the train was not driverless and the area where the test driving was going on isn’t controlled by the new signaling technology. The suspended officials included one deputy general manager who was the in charge of the Kalindi Kunj Depot, an assistant manager, a junior engineer and an assistant section engineer. “The suspension is based on the inquiry done by a team of three executive director rank officials,” Dyal said.
DMRC has planned to go ahead with the plans to inaugurate the Magenta Line or Kalkaji Mandir-Botanical Garden line on December 25 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.