A woman put her foot down, literally, between closing Metro doors to keep them open so her companion could board the train at Dum Dum Cantonment station on Saturday.

The Noapara-bound train entered Dum Dum Cantonment around 1.10pm, said a Metro official. “It was held up for around three minutes because of the reckless and dangerous act.”

“The motorman of that rake had to move from his seat and manually lock it, after which that train could resume its journey. Such incidents are also causing difficulty for the crew. Appropriate steps have already been initiated to identify the offender and take appropriate action as per rules,” he said.

Obstruction of doors by any means, such as a backpack or by physical force, will attract a penalty, the carrier said on Sunday.

The Metro Railway is set to introduce a new technology in the doors of all trains in its existing fleet — one that will prevent a person from getting trapped and being dragged by the closing doors.

An accident like this killed a passenger at Park Street station in July 2019.

On July 13, that year, the closing doors of a Metro train trapped the right hand of Sajal Kumar Kanjilal, 66, at Park Street station.

Kanjilal had made a last-moment attempt to board the train. His right fist, in which he was clutching the token, was inside the compartment, while the rest of him was outside as the train started to move.

The train dragged the rest of him along the platform to his death and threw the body into the tunnel.

On December 14, 2023, a woman fell under a Metro at Delhi’s Inderlok station after her sari got stuck between the train’s doors. She succumbed to her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital two days later.

“The anti-drag technology will prevent any such accidents. Any movement despite an object stuck in the doors will be a cue for the application of emergency brakes,” said a Metro official in Calcutta.

Doors not closing properly at once due to overcrowding is a familiar problem in the rush-hour Metro.

More often than not, it is something belonging to a passenger inside that gets stuck in the doors. Usually, in such a situation, the train does not move until the doors shut properly after the niggle is removed.