Delhi Metro services on Red Line hit, commuters stranded

Several commuters were running late for their work as the metro stations on the Red Line witnessed crowds during peak office hours in the early morning hours

Delhi Metro services on the Red Line were hit Monday morning due to a technical fault in a train travelling towards Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda at the Kohat Enclave Metro station around 8 am, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. While the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said the fault was rectified around 8.30am, passengers travelling around the time the peak office hours, complained of slow services beyond that period too.

The red line has 29 stations that runs from Rithala to Shaheed Sthal with a total distance of 34.55 km (Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

“There was a technical fault reported in a train travelling towards Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda at Kohat Enclave Metro station around 8am. Due to this, there was a slight bunching of trains for about half-an-hour on the Inderlok-Pitampura section of the Red Line,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC.

“Normal train services were available on the rest of the Red Line sections during this period--from Pitampura to Rithala and Inderlok to Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda,” he said.

Several commuters expressed their outrage over the disruption on social media. Akshay Joshi, a commuter, said the train from Ghaziabad stopped several times before Kashmere Gate. “DMRC should resolve the issue,” he said.

Gaurav Gautam, another commuter, also posted about the Red Line facing problems. “I waited for 15 minutes for the gates of the Metro to be opened at Rithala Metro station,” he said.

This is the seventh instance this month wherein Metro services have been impacted due to technical snags or external factors. Following the last snag on the Yellow Line, which disrupted operations for around an hour last Tuesday, Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot had on Wednesday written to the DMRC, asking for an investigation report to be submitted to him within a week’s time over why these recurring instances of breakdowns were taking place.