Storm hits Delhi Metro, thousands affected

NEW DELHI: A powerful storm on Sunday evening almost crippled two major Delhi Metro lines and affected a third, stranding thousands and forcing the transporter to later run the trains on shorter routes.
The storm, with wind speeds of up to 70 km per hour accompanied by rains, forced the suspension of Metro services in at least three places on the sprawling network, a spokesman for Delhi Metro Rail Corp said.

The disruptions took place because trees got toppled and hit and damaged overhead wires on the winding Blue Line and the equally busy Violet Line, the spokesman told IANS. The Magenta Line was also hit.

Commuters were faced with extended halts at various stations and were asked to empty the trains midway across the entire Blue Line, which links Dwarka in west Delhi with Vaishali and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

On the Violet Line, trains ran on short loops from Sarita Vihar to Escorts Mujesar and Nehru Place to Kashmere Gate from 5 p.m. to 5.40 p.m.

The Blue Line services were suspended between Inderprashtha and Karol Bagh, forcing people to take other forms of transport.

Delhi Metro said the overhead damage was repaired and trains began normal services by 6.50 p.m.

But some people IANS spoke to complained of long waits at the Blue Line stations till 7.30 p.m. due to piled up passenger load.

Although only two lines were majorly disrupted, the services were affected across the city and its neighbourhood since the trains link up with other lines at select points.

Delhi Metro transports about 27 to 30 lakh passengers a day.