Thousands of Metro Railway commuters had a harrowing time on Thursday morning as a signal malfunction at Dum Dum led to 12 trains being cancelled and almost as many delayed by around 10 minutes on an average.
Officials said the disruption continued from 8.48am, after the signal at the track changeover point at Dum Dum station developed a snag, to 10.30am.
“The trains after reaching Dum Dum couldn’t change over to the Kavi Subhash-bound tracks as the signal stopped functioning. So the south-bound trains had to leave from the platform where they arrived and changed tracks between Dum Dum and Belgachhia,” said a Metro spokesperson.
A train, after reaching Dum Dum, goes about 200 metres towards Noapara after passengers get off and crosses over to the Kavi Subhash-bound tracks.
“Normally, a train waits for a minute at the terminal station for the passengers to get off before moving towards the cross-over point. After that the next train enters the station,” said an official.
But for close to two hours from 8.48am on Friday, each train had to stop at Dum Dum for more than six minutes as passengers were getting off and boarding it on the same platform. “As a result, the following train got stranded, leading to a series of cancellations and delays,” the official said.
Metro sources said the glitch was caused after melted steel from an adjacent makeshift furnace damaged the signal’s circuit.
“Police had cordoned off the entry to the Kavi Subhash-bound platform. I was asked to get to the other platform, where the trains arrive,” said Jayanta Sengupta, an employee of a private firm who got stuck on his way to office.
“The chaos was unmanageable as people tried to alight and board the train simultaneously. I saw an elderly man fall on the ground. Many passengers failed to board the train.”
Many passengers complained that they were feeling suffocated on the overcrowded trains. “To add to the chaos, there was no proper announcement,” said a passenger.
The snag was repaired around 10.30am but it took another hour for the services to become normal.
