'Delhi Metro has a communication gap with passengers'

Chaos at Rajiv Chowk station after a snag in a train. Stampede follows, passengers allege officials kept them in dark

Chaos at Rajiv Chowk station after a snag in a train. Stampede follows, passengers allege officials kept them in dark

The Delhi Metro passengers were in for a rude shock as thousands got stranded for hours at different stations and a few sustained injuries in a stampede triggered by a train developing a snag on Sunday afternoon near Rajiv Chowk station.

A huge rush outside Rajiv Chowk Metro station

Most of the passengers alleged that the chaos prevailed because the Metro authorities failed to communicate the problem to them.

"We accept that such incidents can happen. But, the problem with Delhi Metro is that they try to conceal information. If they could have told us for how long the services will remain affected and what the real problem is there would not have been so much panic," said Lalit, a PR executive and a regular Metro commuter.

Ritika Malhotra, a resident of Rajouri Garden, complained that if the passengers know for how long the services will be affected they can arrange something.

Prashant, a media marketing executive, also had a similar grievance. The 27-year-old was among the passengers of the affected train. "The driver announced that the train has to be emptied. It was not explained to us why it was needed. Panic-stricken passengers just opened the emergency doors and started running on the tracks," he said.

The incident

An injured woman being escorted to the hospital after she suffered a toe fracture in stampede at the station in New Delhi on Sunday PICS/IMTIYAZ KHAN

One of the Metro's new Bombardier trains on the Yamuna Bank-Dwarka section developed a technical snag after it left the Rajiv Chowk station at 3:15 pm on Sunday.

The train was yet to cross the tunnel when auxillary power system breakdown, resulting in the failure of traction motor.

Metro sources said ever since the new trains have been introduced last month, "there is a problem with integrating the new coaches with the existing systems."

They said that the driver announced that the train will have to be evacuated and assured that "there is nothing to be worried about."

However, the passengers opened the emergency gates and got down on the tracks, immediately disrupting the traffic on the route. To control the crowd, Metro officials closed the Rajiv Chowk station was closed down and since the train movements were delayed due to the fault, the crowd swelled inside the station. This further accentuated the problem.

The passengers thought some big issue has come up and panic-stricken people started running helter-skelter, triggering a stampede.

Four people were injured and admitted to a nearby hospital.

Metro officials said normal services on the line could only be restored at 4:56 pm.

Falling out of line
Line three is biggest line of the Delhi Metro network and also carries major chunk of the Metro commuters. The line is marred with frequent breakdowns on the network resulting in service disruptions every now and then. On Sundays the Rajiv Chowk station receives maximum footfalls as it is centrally located and connects other lines of Delhi Metro.

The Other Side
The rescue operations got delayed substantially as some passengers did not follow the instructions given by the train operator. He made repeated announcements to the passengers to remain calm, but passengers forced open the emergency exit doors.
Delhi Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal