NEW DELHI: Nearly 1,600 Metro passengers had a harrowing time as they were stranded in the middle of the track for over half an hour after an overhead cable snapped near Laxmi Nagar station on Wednesday evening. Adding to their woes was the complete lack of understanding that the Delhi Metro displayed in rescuing the passengers on train number 28, which was on the way to Yamuna Bank station. Ripple effects of the Metro snag were felt on roads as well with many of the distraught commuters rushing to catch buses to reach their destinations.

The incident occurred at 6.44pm when the train, going from Vaishali to Yamuna Bank, suddenly stopped 200m from the Laxmi Nagar station. It had already been standing for 10 minutes at Laxmi Nagar before it left the station, said commuters stuck on the train.

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The airconditioning system stopped working soon after the halt. At 7.09pm, more than 25 minutes after the train had got stuck on the tracks, the emergency doors were opened by commuters as the situation inside the train got so bad that people started feeling faint, said K A Vijayan, one of the commuters. "Commuters got on the track and started walking towards the Laxmi Nagar station," said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson for the Delhi Metro.

However, around 50 passengers refused to get off, forcing the Delhi Metro to let the train remain standing on the track till they deboarded. Normal services could only be resumed at 8.06pm on the Yamuna Bank Vaishali section. DMRC's overhead electrification (OHE) system, which apparently had undergone a thorough insulation exercise recently, snapped-twice on Wednesday.

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Trains on the Vaishali Yamuna Bank section were already running on a short loop due to the snapping of an OHE cable near platform 4 of the Yamuna Bank station. Added Dayal, "A strand of OHE wire had snapped at the Yamuna Bank station at 6.15pm. This OHE was being repaired when the train, approaching from the Laxmi Nagar station towards Yamuna Bank also halted due to the shorting of the OHE at that location." Metro officials said that a crow was also found electrocuted at the OHE location on the Yamuna Bank.

Delhi Metro claims it had planned to move the train, and not let commuters deboard. "The train was to be moved to Laxmi Nagar when some commuters opened the emergency doors," said Dayal. According to the Delhi Metro, the driver made announcements about the plan to move the train but commuters had a different tale to tell. Those stuck inside say that they did not hear any announcement.

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The hourlong ordeal led to chaos along the entire Dwarka sector 21-Vaishali corridor. Trains were delayed as commuters waited at stations along the corridor for as long as 45 minutes. Five trains had to be put on hold at platforms between Yamuna Bank and Vaishali. Even the Dwarka sector 21Noida section was affected as the incident led to bunching of trains. While Delhi Metro says that normalcy was restored after 8.06pm, commuters could feel the effect of the snag till late in the evening.

