A snag in the signalling system led to another disruption in Metro services in the north-south corridor on Friday.
The glitch, spotted around 11.45am, forced the carrier to stop services between Girish Park and Maidan for around 20 minutes.
This is the second disruption to hit the carrier in less than a week. On September 9, a glitch in the power supply system stalled Metro services for over three hours in the morning.
Friday’s disruption was attributed to an overheated cable in the signalling system between Esplanade and Park Street stations.
“A cable had turned red because of heating. The motorman of a New Garia-bound train that had just left Esplanade was the first to spot the overheated cable,” said a Metro official.
A power block was taken between Park Street and Esplanade stations as a precautionary measure to replace the cable.
The carrier ran truncated services between Dakshineswar and Girish Park in the north and between Maidan and New Garia in the south. Girish Park and Maidan have provisions for trains to change direction.
“After the problem was fixed, the first Dakshineswar-bound Metro left Maidan at 12.06pm. The first Kavi Subhash (New Garia)-bound Metro left Girish Park at 12.10pm,” said Metro spokesperson Kausik Mitra.
Though the underground disruption did not last long, it was a weekday and the
effect spilled over to the roads above.
The stations where the services were stalled — MG Road, Central, Chandni Chowk, Esplanade, Park Street and Maidan — fall in the office hubs of Kolkata and are some of the busiest in the city’s transport lifeline.
Around noon, scores of people waited for alternative modes of transport outside the Jeevan Deep building exit of Maidan Metro station. Most of them came out of the station. Esplanade, Park Street and Chandni Chowk were no different.
Last Saturday, the third rail current connector (TRCC) of a train came in contact with the shroud board — meant to ensure that a person falling on the track does not get electrocuted — at Kalighat station. As a result, the power supply snapped immediately.
A breaching of the gap between the third rail and the shroud board, caused by the infringement of a foreign object, led to the snag on Saturday, said Metro officials.