An electrical snag disrupted Metro services between New Garia and Dakshineswar for over an hour on Tuesday.
The glitch, which was reported from Park Street station shortly after 11.35am, forced the carrier to run only one train at a time between Central and Park Street stations in either direction.
Sources in the carrier pointed to a problem in the traction system that supplies power to the stretch covering Park Street, Esplanade, Chandni Chowk and Central.
“We could not run more than one train in the affected section at the same time,” said a Metro official.
Normal services along the entire North-South Corridor resumed at 12.45pm.
Multiple trains were stalled at stations beyond both Central and Park Street for the next hour, leaving thousands stranded inside the compartments and on the platforms.
The Central-Park Street section passes through the business hub of Calcutta and includes some of the busiest stations.
“Due to some traction power problem at Park Street, only one rake is allowed to run at a time in Central-Park Street section. Efforts are on to restore normalcy at the earliest,” Kausik Mitra, the Metro spokesperson, said around 11.45am.
The CESC supplies power to the Metro Railway through receiving sub-stations.
Sources in the carrier said a train usually draws
power from two nearest sub-stations.
“In this section, the two sub-stations are at Central and Park Street. There was a problem with the supply from Park Street. So, the additional load on the sub-station at Central had to be balanced by curbing the movement of trains,” an official said.
According to some officials, because of a reasonably new fleet, the carrier is not as snag-prone as it used to be even a couple of years ago.
On November 22, Metro services between New Garia and Dakshineswar were disrupted for over an hour during the morning rush after a man was found lying beside the tracks between Tollygunge and Rabindra Sarobar stations.
On September 9, a glitch in the power supply system stalled Metro services for
over three hours in the morning.