Took too long to evacuate Metro: Delhi government

The Delhi government on Tuesday said Delhi Metro authorities took a long time to evacuate one of the two trains that stopped at Chhatarpur and Sultanpur metro stations due to a major technical glitch.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said according to a detailed report on the incident sent by Metro authorities, the trains got stuck at 9.27 a.m. due to a fault in the overhead electric cable and the evacuation was started at 9.45 a.m.

"Evacuation of the train number 6709 was completed by 11.10 hrs, while the evacuation of train number 6732 was completed by 11.27 hrs. While in one case the evacuation has taken 1 hour 25 minutes, in the other case the evacuation could be completed only in 1 hour 42 minutes? The time taken to evacuate the train appears to be very high," the minister said on Twitter.

The disruption in the Metro services caused huge inconvenience to commuters during the morning rush hour as thousands were stranded and scores had to be evacuated from the stuck trains.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked Gahlot to seek a detailed report on the incident.

"I have asked transport minister to seek a detailed report and direct Delhi Metro to fix responsibility," Kejriwal tweeted.

Gahlot directed the Delhi Metro to report such incidents immediately to him, pointing out that both his office and the transport commissioner had to get in touch with DMRC's Managing Director over the incident. The minister's office also asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to fix responsibility for the incident.

He further directed the Delhi Metro to inform the people through its Twitter handle in case of such incidents. "DMRC must inform the commuters about such incidents immediately through its Twitter handle so that the commuters do not panic and are kept informed."

While asserting that such incidents have been reported in the past, the minister asked the DMRC to take remedial steps immediately to avoid recurrence of such incidents.

"Details of all the breakdowns of Metro services since 2011 along with their reasons, be furnished," Gahlot added.

Train services on the Delhi Metro corridor that connects Huda City Centre in Gurugram with Samaypur Badli in Delhi resumed four hours after a major technical glitch in the corridor in the morning.

Train services were hit due to breakdown of the overhead electric (OHE) wire at Sultanpur station, tripping the power supply in the entire section.