Passengers in a Violet Line train had a tense moment after a metallic sheet of railing fell on the moving train between Jangpura and Lajpat Nagar metro stations due to heavy winds and rain today, senior officials said.
No injuries were reported and the stranded passengers were rescued, even as the metro operations were halted between Central Secretariat and Nehru Place for nearly two hours and services on the remaining sections were severely affected.
The Violet Line connects Kashmere Gate in Delhi to Escorts Mujesar in Faridabad.
The train was coming out of the underground Jangpura station and moving towards elevated Lajpat Nagar station (towards Faridabad -- down line) when the railing fell on it around 4:05 pm due to heavy rains and wind, they said.
"The railing fell due to sudden high wind pressure and hit the side of the train on the section. The driver stopped the train and subsequently the passengers onboard were taken to the next station (Lajpat Nagar metro station). Nobody was injured," DMRC's Executive Director for Corporate Communications, Anuj Dayal said.
Initially, the services on the Violet Line were run in two loops -- Nehru Place to Escorts Mujesar stations; and Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate stations, a senior DMRC official said.
Single-line movement was started between Nehru Place and Central Secretariat stations through up line (towards Central Secretariat) from 5:45 pm onwards and services were resumed on both the lines from 6:47 pm onwards, he said.
A squall followed by heavy rains lashed parts of the national capital this afternoon, even as the weatherman predicted that the showers would continue overnight. Several trees were also uprooted in south Delhi.
The railing was installed on the concrete boundary wall of the ramp portion of the metro viaduct of the Violet Line.
The official said the services were initially halted as the overhead electricity (OHE) supply was put off between Central Secretariat and Nehru Place sections on the corridor to remove the railing.
Ruby Shrivastava, a passenger who regularly travels on the Violet Line to her workplace in Faridabad, said, today it took her longer time to reach Delhi than on usual days.
"I and my colleague took the train from Sarai around 6 pm, and the train was halting at successive stations for 10-15 minutes for next few stations. Many people deboarded en route and took public transport," she said.
Her colleague Kanika said, she gets down every day at Kailash Colony, but trains were not going beyond Nehru Place. I was exasperated and felt like I would never reach, but finally after a long wait, I got off at Nehru Place and took an auto-rickshaw to my home."
"Kailash Colony is the 10th station from Sarai, so it takes around 20-25 minutes, but today it took about 50 minutes for the same journey. Trains on the opposite line were also seen at much longer intervals," she said.
There are 32 stations on the Violet Line, from Kashmere Gate to Escorts Mujesar.
Between Central Secretariat station (a government enclave area) and Nehru Place station (a bustling commercial zone), there are six stations -- Khan Market, JLN Stadium, Jangpura, Lajpat Nagar, Moolchand and Kailash Colony.
The passengers were rescued through the concrete segment that skirts the boundary wall. All standard operating procedures (SOPs) were followed i.e. from announcement in the affected train to informing passengers at platforms about non-availability of services initially, the official said.
In case of such contingencies, a train operator applies emergency brake, which is a special hydraulic brake, besides the regular service brake. The Operation Control Centre (OCC) of Delhi Metro is then communicated.
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