Technical snag leads to disruption of Metro one services for 40 mins

The lack of any announcement at the station added to the chaos as the crowd gathered at the station and its entry points along the Ghatkopar – Versova route

Mumbai: A technical fault in the overhead equipment impacted the Mumbai metro one services during peak hours on Wednesday evening. Commuters were irked as services came to a standstill for more than 40 minutes between Versova and Airport Road stations.

While some passengers started opting for alternate modes of transport, others approached the ticket counters for a refund. (HT Photo)

While some passengers started opting for alternate modes of transport, others approached the ticket counters for a refund.

The lack of any announcement at the station added to the chaos as the crowd gathered at the station and its entry points along the Ghatkopar – Versova route.

“Due to a fault in the overhead equipment, services from Versova to Airport Road were impacted from 8:20pm till 9pm,” said a spokesperson from Mumbai Metro One Private Limited.

At evening peak hours the services came to a standstill all of a sudden, with a lack of announcements at the stations people were left clueless. After waiting for over half an hour, hassled commuters headed towards the ticket counter for a refund. There was a long queue of passengers trying to exit the metro at Andheri station, many also found it difficult to get a mode of transport to reach home from Airport Road station.

Dharmesh Jotwani, 51, businessman and regular commuter, said, “I boarded the metro around 8:10pm from Marol Naka. When the metro approached Airport Road it came to a sudden stop. As the metro started heading towards Chakala station the lights started fluctuating and it was moving very slowly. It stopped at Chakala station for over 20 minutes, people were irked by the long wait and started opting for other modes of transport. I also took an auto to reach D N Nagar.”

Jotwani noticed a crowd of people trying to get onto the platform, “the only announcement being made on the platform was that the metro is delayed and is moving slowly. While the services were at a standstill,” added Jotwani.

Another commuter, Shaket Kapoor, 40, resident of Lokhandwala, said, “I was headed towards Versova and boarded the metro at Sakinaka, just before Chakala the metro stopped on the tracks and the air condition was also not working. It was very congested for around five minutes as the doors remained closed, and gradually the train reached Chakala station. I could not find another mode of transport and had to walk for a kilometre before getting a bus to Andheri station.”

In the meantime, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) increased the frequency of services on a few of these routes to aid stranded commuters.