When Gurugram was nowhere near Delhi

NEW DELHI: After four hours of work, Delhi Metro officials fixed the cable fault on the Yellow Line by Tuesday afternoon but the cascading effect of the disruption in train services were felt till late in the evening.

The glitch affected services on the entire corridor and people were stuck in slow moving trains for hours. With many stations such as Kashmere Gate and Qutab Minar getting overcrowded, passengers were stopped from entering the Yellow Line stations. At Qutab Minar, the huge crowd of stranded passengers spilled on to the roads leading to Gurgaon, with many trying to walk the distance in absence of alternative modes of transport. The crowding on the arterial route resulted in huge traffic snarls that spilled over to other roads in south Delhi.
“Train services on Yellow Line between Qutab Minar and Sultanpur section were affected today from 9.27am and 1.28pm due to breakdown of overhead wire (OHE), reported by a train as it approached Sultanpur Metro station (from Chhattarpur), leading to tripping of power supply in this section,” a DMRC spokesperson said.
At 9.32am, short loop services were introduced between Samaypur Badli and Qutab Minar section of Yellow Line at a frequency of around two minutes and between Sultanpur and HUDA City Centre section at a frequency of around six minutes. Till around 11.50am, there were no services between Qutab Minar and Sultanpur section. At 11.50 am, single line train services were started between the two stations.
DMRC sent two maintenance teams of 16 technicians which started repairing the cable “on a war footing”, DMRC claimed. The team had experienced technicians from the traction department supervised by senior officials, DMRC said.
DMRC also introduced 29 feeder buses to bridge the gap between the Qutab Minar and Sultanpur section but the number of buses fell woefully short of demand. Delhi Police also pressed into service some of its vehicles to ferry passengers.
“Drinking water was provided to passengers at stations during this period. Centralised announcements were regularly being made at the stations,” said a DMRC spokesperson. “CISF quick response team and Delhi Metro rail police (DMRP) were deployed to manage the passenger rush,” he said.
At 1.15pm, the OHE repair work was completed followed by its charging and subsequent removal of stranded trains from the section. Normal services were started at 1.28 pm, DMRC claimed. Just the rectification of the fault, however, didn’t lead to normal train movement on the corridor.
As the OHE problem was rectified on an urgent basis and a thorough check-up was required, DMRC put temporary speed restrictions on the Yellow Line. This resulted in people facing delays again during the evening peak hour rush.
In Video:Delhi metro snag: 6000 people left high and dry without AC