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Powerless Rajdhanis, Shatabdis stuck; chaos in Delhi Metro
Services of about 300 trains, including premier ones like Rajdhani, Shatbadi and Duronto, were severely affected due to collapse of the Northern grid in the early hours on Monday, causing inconvenience to passengers.
Rajdhani trains coming from Bhubaneswar, Howrah, Sealdah, Mumbai and Ranchi were delayed by more than four hours due to the power problem, said a senior Northern Railway official.
The power failure has affected the train movement in seven divisions -- Delhi, Ambala, Agra, Jhansi, Allahabad, Moradabad and Kota.
The power problem has affected the running of about 300 trains and as a result the departure schedule of several trains has gone haywire, said the official.
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Power blackout leaves 300 trains stranded
The departure timings of Bhubaneswar Duronto, Sealdah Duronto and Kanpur Shatabdi among others have been rescheduled due to the late running of these trains.
Besides, several long-distance trains including Lal Qila Express, Lichchavi Express, Purushottam Express, Farakka Express, Samprak Kranti Express, Bhramputra Mail and Prayag Raj Express are running late by four hours to 11 hours.
Some trains were stranded mid way as the electric engines hauling them came to a halt due to failure of power at about 2.30 am.
Kalka-Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express left the local station 90 minutes behind scheduled departure of 6.53 AM after a diesel engine was attached to it.
The official said that the signal system had also blanked at a number of places due to the power failure.
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Power blackout leaves 300 trains stranded
Meanwhile, in the national capital, thousands of commuters faced severe hardship when the Delhi Metro schedule went haywire.
Train services on all six corridors were affected since morning and the Metro was able to run trains only from 7 am, an hour later than the usual time of 6 am.
When the services began at 7 am, only 25 per cent of trains were put on all six corridors affecting commuters.
However, by 9 am, the Delhi Metro said 100 per cent services have resumed on all lines.
Delhi Metro officials said the disruption in services was due to a failure in the Northern Grid which supplies power to it.
As majority of the trains were taken off services in the morning due to power failure, the frequency of trains dropped to an all-time low of 20 minutes on a few corridors, leaving people stranded at several Metro stations.
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Power blackout leaves 300 trains stranded
Sources said though the failure in the Northern Grid is expected to be rectified only in the evening, Delhi Metro was getting hydel power from Bhutan on priority basis along with power from AIIMS and Prime Minister's House to run the services.
As services were not available in the morning, people were forced to take over-crowded buses and auto rickshaws.
Passengers alleged that there were no proper announcements about the power failure at Metro stations.
The disruption in services caught thousands of office-goers unaware.
Usha, a software engineer, said she waited for more than 30 minutes at Rithala Metro Station to board a Metro train.
"First I heard that trains will not run. However, I managed to get a train. But the train was slow and it took more than an hour for me to reach Kashmere Gate Station," she said.
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