Crack in Delhi Metro pillar: Repairs to affect 70,000 Noida commuters

About 70,000 people are expected to be affected for the next three weeks due to restricted train speed at the Noida City Centre Metro station.

About 70,000 people are expected to be affected for the next three weeks due to restricted train speed at the Noida City Centre Metro station.

The Delhi Metro on Sunday said repairs on pillars No. 174 and 185 beneath the station would continue for two-three weeks.

“The trains now are painfully slow because of the repairs. It is taking me an hour to reach central Delhi, a journey which usually lasts 30 minutes. Therefore, I prefer to take an auto-rickshaw to get to my office there,” said Dinesh Singh, a commuter.

The speed of trains was reduced at the station on Sunday, when Metro authorities began repairing pillar no. 185. It had begun work on the other pillar last week.

The reduction in train speed is not because of the repairs, a Metro spokesperson claimed.

“The lower speed is because of the requirements of the time and not because of repairs.”

“There has been some seepage on platform no. 1, which has forced us to make it off limits for passengers and repair pillar no. 174,” the spokesperson added.

Many passengers began boarding the Metro from the nearby Golf Course Metro station after learning of a crack in a slab of the pillar.

Delhi Metro officials, however, maintained that the repairs were “routine” and meant to check seepage, which had been detected on the platform.

The Delhi Metro has maintained that the repairs did not mean there was a safety concern.

“We would have stopped the Metro services at the station had there been any kind of risk. Why would we take the safety of our passengers lightly?” the spokesperson asked.

Shutting down the station while the repairs are on is not an option the Delhi Metro should consider, many passengers said.

“There is no need yet of shutting down the station for the repairs,. Metro services on the Noida route are running as usual,” said a Delhi Metro spokesperson, requesting anonymity.