Delhi Metro's Vaishali-Dwarka route had to be closed for over two hours this evening after a mechanical glitch during the peak office hours. The cascading effect hit road traffic, resulting in huge traffic snarls on the roads in East and Central Delhi.
Here are the latest developments:
The trouble had started when an overhead wire snapped near east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar station around 6.15 pm. A train, which was approaching the station, came to an abrupt halt.
Stranded passengers had to force open emergency doors and cross the tracks on foot. The metro police and the Central India Security Force personnel helped with the evacuation efforts.
The rail services thereafter went haywire, with more than 15 trains being stuck in tunnels, stations and elevated tracks along the 50-km route.
The overflow of people on roads caused traffic snarls along the Blue Line Route. Hapless passengers took to social media to vent their frustration and issue warnings.
Admitting the lapse, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, or DMRC, in a statement, said, "During overhead electrification repair, one of the trains approaching Yamuna Bank from Laxmi Nagar got held up mid-section and passengers opened the emergency doors."
Sources told NDTV the wire had snapped after a crow got electrocuted. The body of the bird was recovered from the spot.
Normal services were fully resumed after over two hours.
This was the second consecutive day when passengers faced problems on the Blue Line. Services had been affected on Tuesday too, when the trains were said to be "unable to attain their average speed".
Delhi Metro carries approximately 25 lakh people every day on its network, with the Blue Line being one of the busiest sections. It is also one that's most prone to snags.
Recently, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation replaced all the faulty insulators on the overhead electrification, which were apparently causing the snags.
