Delhi Metro: Technical snag leaves hundreds stranded

Commuters travelling on the Delhi Metro's Violet and Blue Lines had a hard time on Friday as a technical snag caused the services to come to a halt. During peak hours in the morning, a signalling glitch halted operations on the Violet Line (ITO to Faridabad) while commuters were stranded for almost an hour.

Speaking on the issue, a DMRC official said, "Train services on Blue Line were affected today between 2:40 pm and 4:15 pm due to point flashing (signalling issue) at the entry of Karol Bagh station. This led to the other trains on the line being held back during this period. However, on the Violet Line, a signalling issue at Sarita Vihar caused the delay. Trains had to be controlled manually on this section."

Stranded in packed stations or outside in searing heat at dusk, passengers described the situation as 'horrible', 'crazy' and like a 'circus'. Some took to Twitter to warn others from relying on the Metro.

Services slowed down along the entire corridor stretching between Faridabad and Kashmere Gate after trains lost touch with the control centre, a metro official said. As the centralised control mechanism snapped, trains had to be manually controlled, from each station, on this section between 8 am and 9 am, leading to long delays.

"The glitch has been developing for hours starting from yesterday and nobody knows as to how long it will take to fix the problem," tweeted Rachit Gupta, who was stuck for half an hour.