32-minute power disruption hits Bengaluru Metro services during peak morning, evening hours

BENGALURU: Metro train services were disrupted for 32 minutes during peak morning and evening hours on the Purple Line (Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road) due to power disruption caused when a vital technical equipment malfunctioned at the Swami Vivekananda Metro station on Tuesday.

Passengers were not impacted as all the trains running on the stretch, barring one, were immediately brought to the nearest Metro station. One passenger though had tweeted that there were incidents of suffocation and fainting in the train he was on board. As a precautionary step, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (BMRCL) plans to run trains at a frequency of 3.5 minutes will be temporarily stopped for a few days.  The disruption occurred earlier in the day from 10.02 am to 10.28 am, grinding to a halt all train operations on the 18 Metro stations of the Purple Line.

“Operations commenced at 10.28 am and short loop trains were run to clear the rush. Normalcy was restored at 11 am,” said the Chief Public Relations Officer of BMRCL.The disruption took place again from 6.20 pm to 6.26 pm but normalcy was restored immediately, the official said.

According to BMRCL Managing Director Mahendra Jain, “Trains have an in-built momentum which ensures that whenever there is a power disruption, the train can reach up to the nearest Metro station. The doors open automatically when it reaches a Metro station,” he said.