Cable thefts,rat attacks derailing Metro services

“The cables are barely worth Rs 50 but the risk involved in stealing them is so high as one can easily get electrocuted. Yet,the instances of cable theft have become common and end up delaying train movement by at least five minutes,” said Raj Kumar,DMRC’s Director (Operations).

Rodents have been Metro’s other big headache. Despite the use of pest control devices,there have been instances when rats have nibbled at cables affecting train services. On Thursday morning,officials said,such an incident took place near Jasola on the Central Secretariat-Sarita Vihar corridor though it did not lead to a major delay.

Technical glitches are also creeping in as the network expands. The Gurgaon Metro corridor witnessed the worst-ever glitch last week when train services were disrupted for over four hours during an evening after the Over-Head Electrification (OHE) system failed. Soon,DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan appointed a high-level committee to look into the incident and suggest steps to prevent such incidents. Metro has also sought help of Swiss experts who manufactured the OHE system to look into the glitches.

Snag on Gurgaon line,again
Metro train services on the Central Secretariat-HUDA City Centre stretch were disrupted around 9.25 pm on Sunday due to sparking on the over head electrification (OHE) line near Sultanpur. “Engineers are working and the problem should be resolved soon,” said a DMRC spokesperson. Soon,the affected stations got overcrowded and many commuters were seen waiting outside Sultanpur,MG Road and other stations.