Software malfunction delays Delhi metro services

Metro commuters in the national capital had a difficult time today as trains were delayed by at least 30 minutes during the morning rush hour due to a technical problem.

Trains on the over-crowded Line 3 that connects Dwarka sub-city with Noida City Centre and Anand Vihar were delayed for over 30 minutes due to software malfunctioning.

The delay led to heavy rush in trains during the morning rush hour and huge queues could be seen at several major stations like Rajiv Chowk, Anand Vihar and Laxmi Nagar.

Anand Vihar and Laxmi Nagar stations see the maximum footfall on the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar corridor.

Metro officials said the delay was for "some time" as the serial number of trains was mixed up due to software malfunctioning following which trains could not move further.

"Since the train numbers were lost due to some software malfunctioning trains could not run. Then the trains were run on manual mode for some time and after resetting the serial numbers, normalcy was restored," an official said.

Metro trains are given a number and every movement of them is monitored at the Operational Control Centre at the Metro headquarters in Metro Bhawan in New Delhi.

However, passengers alleged that the trains were delayed for about 40-50 minutes.

Joseph, a journalist, who takes a metro train from Anand Vihar to Central Secretariat said he was waiting at the Anand Vihar station for over 15 minutes.

"This is for the first time that it is happening. I waited for more than 15 minutes and then a train came. The train moved very slowly and then it was stationed at the Nirman Vihar station for almost 10 minutes," he said.

Joseph also said there was almost a "stampede-like situation" at the Anand Vihar metro station due to the delays.

Some passengers alleged that the public announcement system inside the metro trains failed and there was a big confusion about the approaching stations.

Another metro passenger Sarangi said, "I took a metro from Janakpuri east station hoping to reach office in 35 minutes. But the train moved very slowly from the station and the announcements were wrong. The train got stuck in Jhandewalan for over 10 minutes".

Line 3 is the crowdest corridor of the capital’s new age transport system as it ferries over 5.5 lakh people every day. More than a million people in the national capital take metro everyday and it makes over 1,800 trips on a weekday.

Metro is expected to ferry two million people a day by the end of this year with the addition of three more lines by Commonwealth Games.