New Delhi:
Thousands of Metro commuters in the national Capital were stranded at various stations during the morning rush hour on Friday as trains on the over-crowded Noida Line were delayed due to a signaling problem.
Due to the problem, trains got delayed and were run at a restricted speed causing much inconvenience to the people, who were hoping to reach their offices on time.
Though trains services did not stop completely due to the technical fault, they were delayed for more than 30 minutes with trains stopping at every station for more than their stipulated time.
Delhi Metro trains run on automatic signalling system and if a problem occurs in it, they are run on a manual signaling system. However, the speed is restricted.
According to passengers, they had to wait for trains at some stations for more than 40 minutes and even after the train came it stopped at almost every station for more than 10 minutes. They also complained of over-crowding on trains due to the delay.
Metro officials said the problem in signalling system was detected at around 9 AM, after which trains were run at a restricted speed.
"Efforts are on to rectify the problem as soon as possible. Till then, trains will be run at a restricted speed," a DMRC spokesman said.
Abhinav, a journalist, who takes a Metro from Mayur Vihar said it took him almost an hour to reach Patel Chowk station due to the problem.
"I boarded the train at around 9.15 AM hoping to reach office before 10 AM. But the train was standing at the station for 10 minutes and it stopped at every station for at least 5 minutes. Moreover, the train was also running at a very slow speed. It took me more than an hour to reach my office," he said.
Line 3 which connects Dwarka Sub-City with the satellite city of Noida and Anand Vihar in East Delhi carries over 6 lakh passengers on a week day and is the most overcrowded line of the Metro network in the capital.
Passengers on other lines also complained of delays, but Metro officials said they were not aware of them.