Inordinate delay in metro, commuters seek ticket refund

An inordinate delay of nearly 30 minutes on the Dwarka-Noida metro route Saturday morning caught people unaware, leading to snaking queues in the metro stations. Tired of waiting, a number of commuters sought refund of their tickets and took other conveyances for their onward journey.

According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials, the delay was because of a technical problem on a portion of the Dwarka Sector-9 and Noida route.

"There was some electrification problem on a single line between Dwarka Sector-9 and Janakpuri. This caused the delay on the route," a DMRC official said.

While the problem may have been on just a portion of the route, commuters taking the metro train on the entire route were nonetheless affected.

Rajan Sharma, one of the commuters, said: "I always take the metro from Dwarka to Yamuna Bank, but this morning when I reached the Dwarka Sector-9 station, I was shocked to see the crowd. A few people told me that the metro was not running for at least 20 minutes".

"I was already getting late for work and I couldn't afford to just keep waiting. There was no announcement and no one could tell us how long the delay would be for. So I decided to get my token refunded and took the bus instead," he said.

Ashutosh Sinha, a student taking the metro from Yamuna Bank to Rajiv Chowk which falls on the same route, said he had to wait for at least 15 minutes for the metro.

"While I had to wait for 15 minutes for the metro, people going in the opposite direction, towards Noida, had to wait for at least 30 minutes. People are becoming so dependent on the metro. It is considered as the most dependable public conveyance, but such increasing delays are tarnishing its image," he said.

The DMRC official added: "The technical snag has now been cleared and now the trains are running on schedule".

Last updated on Nov 21^st, 2009 at 11:38 am IST--IANS