For the second straight day in a row, the trains on Delhi Metro’s Blue Line came to an abrupt halt on Thursday. Sharing details of the technical snag, Chief Spokesperson of DMRC Anuj Dayal, said that around 5.14 PM on Wednesday and 11.28 AM on Thursday, the control of the signalling and Automatic Train Control system of Blue Line was lost at the Operational Control Centre (OCC) level due to power failure.
Here is what happened:
- As power snapped, centralised operation of trains were not possible during the period as “train IDs” (used to identify individual trains) were lost
- The screen went black in OCC. It is like an aircraft going off the ATC radar. The 17 “interlocking” stations of line 3/4 (Dwarka Sector 21-Noida City Centre/Vaishali) were told to operate trains at local level. However, since things became manual, it led to delays on the line.
- At interlocking stations, trains can change tracks and have reversal facility and station controllers are authorised to manage trains manually.
- Though power was restored within four minutes, OCC gained control of operations at 11.43 AM and the entire process was completed only by 12.20 PM. But it took time for trains halted across the corridor to resume services and commuters were forced to withstand overcrowded coaches and platforms.
- He also apologised to the commuters and thanked them for maintaining “discipline” despite hardship. “Trains appeared to crawl as their speeds were deliberately reduced keeping safety in mind,” he said.
- A thorough probe into the probable cause of the fault will be undertaken. Dayal also assured that an “alternative channel” for power supply backup is also planned.
- The two branches of Blue Line (Line 3/4) have gained considerable infamy in recent times due to frequent snags. The line connects Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida City Centre and Vaishali.
- With five interchange stations on its 57-km-long route, around 30 per cent of the total passenger volume or around 12 lakh commuters take the Blue line on a daily basis.
