Power breakdown hits Delhi Metro, hundreds stuck for hours

The functioning of the Delhi Metro services were hit Sunday and hundreds of passengers were stuck on a train for over two hours due to power failure on the Dwarka-Yamuna bank line, police said.

According to police, a Delhi Metro train came to a standstill between the R.K. Ashram Marg station and Rajiv Chowk station due to power failure around 3.25 p.m.

"Power failure led to non-functioning of signals and the train was halted on the slip track," a police officer told IANS.

"The passengers were removed through emergency doors and during that some might have suffered sprains. We are not sure about the number but some people have been taken to a nearby hospital," the officer added.

The R.K. Ashram Marg is an elevated station while the Rajiv Chowk station is underground.

Train services could only be normalized after over two hours.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security cover to Delhi Metro, had to shut down the Rajiv Chowk Metro station for some time.

"Since the train movements were delayed due to the fault, the crowd swelled inside the station. The situation was like a stampede, so our men had to shut down the doors of the station for some time to manage the crowd," a senior CISF official said.

On Sundays the Rajiv Chowk station receives maximum footfalls of passengers as it is centrally located and connects to other lines of Delhi Metro.

Delhi Metro authorities were yet to issue a statement explaining what caused the power breakdown.

Last updated on Nov 8^th, 2009 at 19:29 pm IST--IANS