Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

Metro issues new guidelines for emergencies after tunnel chaos

Image
Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Jun 14 2013 | 6:15 PM IST
Three days after a train broke down in a tunnel on a busy route leaving thousands of commuters stranded, the Delhi Metro today came out with guidelines to deal with such emergencies following submission of a preliminary inquiry report into the incident.
After receiving the report into breakdown of a train on 'yellow line', DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh issued guidelines which include ensuring a secondary backup system, lighting and ventilation inside the trains during emergencies and evacuation of passengers if the problem cannot be resolved within 10 minutes.
On June 11, an eight-coach metro train going to HUDA City Centre on Delhi Metro's busy Yellow Line broke down in the middle of the tunnel between Central Secretariat and Udhyog Bhawan stations, giving a difficult time to over 1,791 passengers onboard the train and severely affecting metro services across the city during the morning rush hour.
The DMRC had appointed a three-member internal inquiry committee which today submitted its report.
Members of the inquiry committee were -- Executive Director (Rolling Stock), Executive Director (Safety) and General Manager (Operations).
"Such a failure has happened for the first time and the same is being investigated by a team of engineers from DMRC and the manufacturer to avoid recurrence of such incident," Anuj Dayal, Executive Director Corporate Communications said.

Also Read

As per the report, the emergency brakes of train were applied following a problem in the software of the communication system.
In his guidelines, the DMRC chief said, arrangements for proper lighting and ventilation inside the coaches must be ensured within 10 minutes in case of similar incidents in future in the underground tunnel.
He has also instructed DMRC operational managers to start evacuation of passengers if the problem could not be resolved within 10 minutes.
The commuters in the train, which broke down, had a difficult time for nearly 90 minutes as there was no ventilation and proper lighting inside the coach. Panic-stricken passengers later opened the emergency doors and started walking on the tracks before they were escorted to safety by the metro staff.

More From This Section

First Published: Jun 14 2013 | 6:15 PM IST

Next Story