Metro services on Blue Line, the busiest corridor, were severely hit today owing to "excessive" passenger rush at the Pragati Maidan station due to the ongoing India International Trade Fair.
Passengers travelling on this over 50-km-long section, that connects Dwarka to Noida, were left stranded for long durations, in cases stretching to an hour.
Trade fair is witnessing a large crowd due to Guru Nanak Jayanti being a holiday.
"Due to excessive crowd at Pragati Maidan station, trains are halting for more than 20 seconds, which is the usual duration. This is because doors are not shutting on time," a senior metro official said.
Metro train cannot move if automated gates are shut.
Impatient commuters vented their frustration on the authorities, wondering why they could not at least make announcements stating the reason for the delay.
"A 20 minutes journey from Mayur Vihar to Mandi House took me around an hour. Trains were halting for around 7-10 minutes in each station till Pragati Maidan," a commuter said.
Last Sunday, ridership in Pragati Maidan till 8 PM had touched 97,532, a metro official said. Over 1 lakh trade fair tickets were sold across metro stations on that day.
Blue Line is considered to be snag-prone.
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A senior official of Delhi Metro said that 17 additional trains, doing around a hundred extra trips, were put on the Blue Line today, in view of the passenger rush.
"Train movement was regulated at Pragati Maidan due to large inflow of trade fair visitors. Trains from between Yamuna Bank and Mandi House stations had to be put on hold till the crowd was cleared from the platform and concourse at Pragati Maidan metro station, causing delay in the services of Noida/Vaishali section," said the senior official.
The ridership in connection with Pragati Maidan metro station went up by more than four times today.
"Average ridership of Pragati Maidan station happens to be around 15,000, which went up to around 80,000 today," said the senior official.
Till November 25, around 1.13 lakh trade fair tickets were issued from various metro stations, of which around 37,000 were sold from Pragati Maidan station, the official added.
