Power failure stalls Metro Railway services for 2 hrs in city

Metro Railway services were disrupted Wednesday for more than two hours due to a breakdown in power supply to a Kavi Subhash-bound rake, shortly after its departure from Dum Dum station.

Passengers of the train, which halted on the tracks at 1 pm, were immediately evacuated and escorted back to the platform at Dum Dum station by personnel of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Kolkata Police and state disaster management, Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said.

Services resumed at 3.14 pm after the affected rake was taken to the carshed at Noapara, she said.

Truncated services were being run between Belgachia station in the north and Kavi Subhash in the southern part of the city owing to the snag.

Banerjee said work was on to rectify the problem and restore normal operation.

This is the fourth disruption in Metro Rail services in the city since December 27 owing to technical reasons. In two of the cases, smoke had emanated from under coaches of the trains.

The city's Metro Railway, the first in the country, has been using some rakes which are plying since 1984.

The Metro authorities said they will start phasing out these rakes once four new state-of-the-art trains get the security clearance for induction from the Commissioner of Railway Safety.

The four rakes have been delivered to the Metro by manufacturer Integral Coach Factory, Perambur.