Hundreds of Metro commuters in Delhi had a harrowing experience on Thursday when a metal barricade fell on a moving train on the violet line near Lajpat Nagar in Delhi due to strong winds and rain, disrupting the metro services in the peak hours of the evening.

Services of #Delhi Metro’s Violet line halted after a portion of a railing wall fell on a train between Lajpat Nagar & Jangpura metro station. pic.twitter.com/yHJNeZJZRm

— ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2018

What happened?

“The train was climbing from the underground Jangpura station to the elevated Lajpat Nagar station when there was a loud noise. The train came to a halt as one of the huge metal barricades along the tracks had fallen on it. People started panicking, and there was absolute pandemonium inside the train, “a commuter, identified as Mithum Vijayan told Times of India.

While nobody was injured in this incident, it was a harrowing experience for the commuters who were stuck on the train. They were evacuated in the middle of nowhere and had to walk on the Metro tracks to reach the Lajpat Nagar Station platform from where they had to take an alternative mode of transport.

The train remained stationary for approximately 20 minutes and that there were no announcements for the passengers. “Soon, metro officials came and opened the door from the outside. They pulled up a small ladder, and all passengers deboarded the train and walked towards Lajpat Nagar Station. We were told that the metro will not operate now, so I walked out of the station to look for an autorickshaw,” added Vijayan.

Due to the standstill on a bustling section of the violet line, the rest of the trains had to be run on two different loops- from Nehru Place to Escorts Mujesar and from Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate. At 5.45pm, single line operations began between Nehru Place and Central Secretariat through the Up line and normal train movement was restored by 6.45pm.

The metal barricades have been standing tall in its place since the opening of the ‘Central secretariat – Sarita Vihar’ section of the violet line in 2010. There is a possibility that the joints holding the barricades gave way to the strong winds. Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, Communications, said, “We will investigate the incident for safety considerations,” reported The Indian Express

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Also published on Medium.