Metro commuters stranded on Dwarka-Noida route due to glitch

New Delhi: Thousands of Metro commuters had a harrowing experience this morning after trains were delayed and many were left stranded at various stations on the Dwarka to Noida city centre route as services were disrupted due to a problem in Over-head Electrification (OHE). "Due to OHE problem between Karol Bagh and R K Ashram station, train services are being run in three loops on Line 3. Trains are being run on short loop between Karol Bagh to Dwarka Sector 21 and Barakhamba to Noida/Vaishali and single line between Karol Bagh and Barakhamba since 11:40 AM," a DMRC spokesperson said.

Mitali, a commuter who works in central Delhi, said, "Trains were stopping for at least 10 to 15 minutes at the stations on the route and running very slow. I reached office an hour late." Announcements were being made in trains that ventilation and lights are running on battery system. It was a chaotic situation at all stations on the line as several people were stranded for more than an hour waiting for trains to arrive. Office-goers had a harrowing time with Metro services delayed and major traffic snarls on arterial roads as heavy rains lashed the national capital. The DMRC spokesperson said Metro services resumed normal operations by 12:50 PM. OHE problems on Metro trains have become common now. In July this year, owing to electrification problem, Metro services on the blue line to Noida were disrupted for over three hours. On June 11 this year, train going to HUDA City Centre on busy yellow line broke down in the middle of the tunnel between Central Secretariat and Udhyog Bhawan stations, giving a difficult time to over 1,791 passengers on board the train and severely affecting Metro services across the city during the morning rush hour. Meanwhile, due to the clashes between two groups in Tilak Vihar area last night, some entry gates at various Metro stations on the blue line which were close to the area were shut. "Due to imposition of section 144 in Tilak Nagar area by Delhi Police, two entry gates each at Subhash Nagar, Tagore Garden and Tilak Nagar and one entry gate at Janakpuri East station has been closed at 8:23 AM. Other gates of these stations are open so stations are working normally," the spokesperson said. "This method is much faster than the conventional cut-and-cover technology used generally for the construction of subways. In the case of this particular subway, had DMRC opted for the conventional cut-and-cover technology, then it would have had to excavate the road above causing great inconvenience to the movement of traffic," Dayal added. The work was started in June earlier this year and will be finished by the end of September. The condition of the road above will be monitored through various types of instrumentation methods like precise levelling studs on the pavement areas, settlement markers, during the entire construction period. The under-construction ITO Metro station has six entry and exits points connecting different parts of ITO. DMRC has decided to use the technology for the construction of a number of underground subways in Phase 3. Apart from ITO, the technology will also be used for the construction of subways as well as entry/exit structures of Metro stations at Dabri Mor, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Nehru Place (on Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden corridor) and Bhikaji Cama Place (on Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar corridor). PTI