Hundreds of Metro commuters suffered after a Dum Dum-bound air-conditioned train developed a snag and was stranded at Kudghat (Netaji) station for around five minutes on Thursday morning.

The ripple effect of the rush-hour incident continued for around 30 minutes, with trains running late and packed beyond capacity.

A Metro official said one of the four “third rail current collectors” — a rod-like equipment attached to the train that draws power from the third rail — developed a snag at 10.40pm, soon after the train left Bansdroni (Masterda Surya Sen) station.

The snag-hit rake was evacuated after engineers found it unsafe for travel and sent to the Noapara car shed for repairs at 10.44am.

“The rake could not be started despite several attempts. We alerted engineers from the electrical department, who advised us to evacuate passengers and send the rake to the car shed,” said a senior Metro official.

Commuters said that because of the snag-induced delay, the next few north-bound trains were packed beyond capacity.

Commuters waiting for a north-bound train at Kalighat station said they had to skip two rakes before they could manage to board one.

“Kalighat station was packed with passengers of three trains. I could not get into the first train that ran after the disruption. The second was even more crowded and I had to skip it. The third train I could finally manage to board,” said Riya Dasgupta, who works at a private firm on Ganesh Chandra Avenue.

Women injured

Bandana Dey and Lusi Bahadur, both in their late 30s, sustained injuries after a chunk of concrete fell on them from the ceiling of a private hospital on Andul Road in Howrah around 5.30pm on Thursday.

Police said the women had come to visit a person from their neighbourhood undergoing treatment at the private hospital.

The women have been admitted to the hospital with head injuries.