Metro’s Blue Line catches cold, train services hit as circuit fails

This was the fifth snag in less than 40 days. Hours later, the same line reported a sixth snag with trains coming to a halt due to signalling issue.

The season’s coldest day, besides causing Delhiities to shiver, affected services on Delhi metro’s blue line (Dwarka-Vaishali/Noida) as a track circuit failed on Wednesday morning, possibly due to ‘low temperatures’. This was the fifth snag in less than 40 days. Hours later, the same line reported a sixth snag with trains coming to a halt due to signalling issue.

Rush at Rajiv Chowk due to maintenance work on the Blue Line on December 25. (HT File)

Repeated glitches delayed train services which led to overcrowding the stations and coaches.

The first snag was a track circuit failure during morning hours. Sources said low temperature may be behind it. The second snag during the peak evening rush happened because metro’s train identification system conked out.

“From 9am to 12 noon, trains were delayed as there was recurrent drop in the track circuit on the line approaching Dwarka. The track circuit was made normal at 12.10pm,” a metro official said.

Explaining the reason behind the second snag, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said, “Train services on the line were affected from 5.14pm due to a signalling identification issue. As a result, gradually all trains are given fresh IDs from the control centre one by one manually, which leads to minor bunching of trains and delay. View and control over trains is lost when the signalling server trips.”

Passengers complained of long delays as trains were stopping at all stations more than the usual time.

“I had to reach Noida for an interview but missed it as the metro was stuck for almost an hour. It is getting very irritating now as every second day the Blue Line gets stuck,” said Priyanka Rajan, a media professional.

Glitches dull Delhi Metro’s shine

Frequent snags have made commute on the Blue Line a pain for Delhiites

2016

December 25: Repair work on the track between Yamuna Bank and Indrapratha delays trains

December 18: Problem in track circuit between Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha hits operations

December 8: Smoke detected from a train at Rajendra Nagar causes panic.

June 3: Metro train services on Line – 3/4 (Dwarka to Noida City Center/Vaishali) affected throughout the day as track circuit fails. Trains run on restricted speed of 25 km/hr lead to bunching.

May 5: Train services at ITO Metro station of Line-6 (Violet Line) disrupted for four hours as a train gets stuck at the Mandi House station.

April 4: Passengers stuck during peak hours due to technical glitch on Dwarka-Vaishali/Noida and ITO-Faridabad line.

2015

July 8: Passengers evacuated from a train after it got stuck between Yamuna Bank and Vaishali due to a snag.

2014

June: Thousands of commuters stranded after services on the Blue Line (Dwarka-Noida corridor) are hit for over two hours.

The crowds spilled over to platforms and concourses of busy stations such as Rajiv Chowk. “For 20 minutes we kept on waiting for the metro at Karol Bagh. Finally when the train did come, there was no space. So, I exited and took an auto,” said Santosh Kumar, who came to shop at Karol Bagh with his family.

As snags have become a frequent problem in the metro, commuters said penalty to exit the station should be waived off. “In such a situation, DMRC should not charge the Rs10 fine. It happens so frequently,” said Rawat, a labourer.

On January 3, thousands of commuters were left stranded as services crawled for several hours on the corridor due to problems in overhead wiring between Pragati Maidan and Mandi House stations.