Office-goers, students and thousands of other commuters in south Kolkata had a torrid time as a glitch in the power supply system stalled Metro Rail services for over three hours on Saturday morning.
The snag stopped a Dakshineswar-bound train at Kalighat station around 8am. A power block was taken between Rabindra Sarobar and Jatin Das Park (Kalighat is between the two) stations at 8.12am.
For the next three hours, the carrier could not run trains between Maidan and Tollygunge.
“After the problem was fixed, the first train left Maidan for New Garia at 11.02am. The first train left Tollygunge for Dakshineswar at 11.24am,” said a Metro official.
In between, the carrier ran truncated services between Dakshineswar and Maidan in the north and between Tollygunge and New Garia in the southern extremities of the city. Maidan and Tollygunge have provisions for trains to change direction.
Around 9.30am, many people were waiting outside Tollygunge Metro station. “I have a meeting from 10.30am. I would have reached before time on a Metro. Now, I don’t know if I will be able to make it in time,” said Pushkar Rai, who lives in Haridevpur and works at a private firm on Ganesh Chandra Avenue. He was trying to book an app cab but there was no driver available.
Similar scenes were playing out at Kalighat, Rabindra Sadan, Jatin Das Park and Rabindra Sarobar stations.
Buses were so packed that people were hanging from the footboards. Autos and yellow cabs fleeced passengers at will.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to passengers,” said Kausik Mitra, the chief public relations officer of Metro Railway.
A Metro official said the motorman of the train that had just entered Kalighat and panel staff first spotted a spark in the third rail around 7.55am.
“The third rail current connector (TRCC) of a train touched and entangled with the shroud board at Kalighat station. As a result, the power supply snapped immediately and the train came to a halt,” said an official.
The third rail current collector is a piece of equipment attached to the undercarriage of the train that collects power from the third rail of a Metro track. The third rail is covered by a shroud board. Made of fire-retardant plastic, the board is meant to ensure that a person falling on the track does not get electrocuted. The third rail carries 750 volt of electricity.
A Metro engineer linked Saturday’s snag to the breaching of a gap between the third rail and the shroud board.
“We have started an inquiry,” said Mitra.