The services on the Blue Line of Delhi Metro were affected for the third consecutive day. On Friday, Delhi Metro commuters had to wait longer due to slow movement of trains on Blue Line.
There was also a brief delay in metro services on DMRC's Blue Line on Wednesday and Thursday morning due to a signalling issue. The Blue Line connects Dwarka in Delhi to Electronic City in Noida.
Neha Sharma, a commuter from Sector 11 in Dwarka said, “I had to wait from 10:16 am to 10:32 am at Sector 11. The train got delayed for 15 minutes and no announcement was made regarding the delay.”
Ritika Gupta, a commuter from Dwarka Mor said, “The metro was moving slowly. I got late for my office.”
Nitin Giri, DMRC spokesperson said, “For the last few days, cable theft have been a concern for us. Train services were affected between Dwarka and Dwarka Sector 21 section of Blue Line from start of services in the morning as a portion of signalling cable (approximately 150 m) was found to be stolen between Dwarka Sector 9 and Dwarka Sector 10 stations on the night of June 26/27. This resulted in track circuit drop (signalling issue) in this section restricting trains to move in manual mode with limited speed of up to 25 kmph only. The impact was minor due to less number of trains on the line on Sunday. The entire relaying/repair of cable work is expected to be completed during the night hours on June 27 after the closing of revenue service.”
“Slow movement of trains between Dwarka Sector 9 and Dwarka Sector 21. Normal services on all other lines,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a tweet.
The Blue Line is considered the metro’s busiest as well as snag-prone corridor. Usually, when train movement slows down along a stretch of a line, the impact is felt across the corridor.
It is learnt that the snag on Blue Line was an outcome of cable theft. The services on the line are likely to be restored entirely by Thursday night.
Around 1 pm, train movement on Yellow Line also slowed down. The snag initially hit services between HUDA City Centre and Sultanpur stations, and gradually affected the entire corridor that stretches till Samaypur Badli. DMRC announced the delay in train movement at 2.42 pm.
The snags have exacerbated the situation at metro stations which continue to witness long queues due to the government’s 50 per cent cap on seating capacity. No person is allowed to stand during the commute, but the metro is struggling to enforce that rule due to the sheer rush of passengers.
