Power breakdown hits Delhi Metro, hundreds stuck for hours

New Delhi, Nov 8 : The Delhi Metro services were hit Sunday and hundreds of passengers were stuck on a newly introduced train for over two hours due to power failure on the Dwarka-Yamuna bank line, police said.

The incident was reported between the R.K. Ashram Marg and the Rajiv Chowk Metro stations around 3.15 p.m.

"Power failure led to non-functioning of signals and the train was halted on the slip track," a police officer told IANS.

"The passengers were removed through emergency doors and during that some might have suffered sprains. We are not sure about the number but some people have been taken to a nearby hospital," the officer added.

Officials said some passengers themselves opened the emergency gates located on both side of the train and started walking on the track towards the stations. This led to difficulties in conducting rescue operations.

The R.K. Ashram Marg is an elevated station while the Rajiv Chowk station is underground.

According to Delhi Metro officials, around 3.45 p.m. the next train which was immediately following behind and was at the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station was cleared off passengers. It was used as a rescue train after getting track clearance around 4:20 p.m.

After 25 minutes, the affected train was coupled to the rescue train and brought back to the Yamuna Bank Depot for maintenance.

In the meantime three trains were provided between the Dwarka Sector 9 and the Karol Bagh Metro stations. Train services could only be normalized after one hour 41 minutes.

"The rescue operations got delayed substantially as some passengers did not follow the instructions given by the train operator of the affected train. He made repeated announcements to the passengers to remain calm, but some passengers on their own initiative forced open the emergency exit doors," Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said here in a statement.

"This severely hampered the relief and rescue operations as the rescue train could not move from the Rajiv Chowk station till the track was fully cleared of passengers. We strongly advise all passengers to follow the instructions given by the train operator and Metro staff in any such situation to avoid mishaps to passengers," he added.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security cover to the Delhi Metro, had to shut down the Rajiv Chowk Metro station for some time.

"Since the train movements were delayed due to the fault, the crowd swelled inside the station. The situation was like a stampede, so our men had to shut down the doors of the station for some time to manage the crowd," a senior CISF official said.

On Sundays the Rajiv Chowk station receives maximum footfalls of passengers as it is centrally located and connects to other lines of Delhi Metro.

Delhi Metro authorities were yet to explain what caused the power breakdown.

--IANS