Commuters stranded as snag hits Delhi Metro

Passengers were left stranded as a technical fault hit Delhi Metro's Gurgaon-Jehangirpuri line Thursday, resulting in overcrowding at stations.

According to an official, a track circuit failure near Qutub Minar Metro station at around 7.10 pm caused the trains to slow down. A track circuit is an electrical device used to detect the presence or absence of a train on rail tracks.

While Delhi Metro said trains were running in 15-20 minute frequency, some passengers said there were no trains from Qutub Minar to Gurgaon.

Metro officials also claimed that services were "normal" on other lines whereas passengers complained of delayed services on most lines.

"The problem has been identified and will be rectified soon," an official said.

Delayed and crowded trains added to commuter woes at several stations, particularly at Rajiv Chowk, the busiest inter-change, and some stations on other routes.

"There was so much crowd at the Metro station that I had to come back to office," said Divya Gupta, who works in Green Park in south Delhi.

"The trains are jam-packed... There is no place to even set foot in the ladies coach. Getting into the rest of the train is near impossible," said Ritu Singh at the Delhi University station.

Delhi Metro ferries some 14 lakh people every day.