BENGALURU: Bengaluru Metro services were shut on the Purple Line for nearly 15 minutes and trains were delayed for up to 30 minutes during the peak morning hour on Monday. The disruption was caused due to sparks emerging from rubber laid on the tracks along the Swami Vivekananda Metro station, which suffered a puncture due to heat. An alert station manager noticed it and ensured an approaching train was stopped, said a source.
Large crowds were spotted on the platforms of Baiyappanahalli, Swami Vivekananda and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Metro stations, eyewitnesses said.
A Metro source said, “We have rubber insulation provided on the track fitting due to the return current passing through the rail, which had punctured.
This resulted in sparks flying momentarily. Just as a train was approaching S V Road station from Baiyappanahalli around 9 am, the station manager noticed the sparks.
He immediately alerted the Control Centre and the train was brought to a halt immediately. It was stopped 10 metres before the incident spot.”
The sparks extinguished on their own. “Our staff later visited the spot and checked if it was safe and then the train was allowed to pass later,” he said.
Precautionary move
As a precautionary move, operations were shut down for a brief period. “A Power Block was taken in both the UP and DOWN direction. Hence, trains in the stations before and after S V Road (Indiranagar and Baiyappanahalli) were impacted. As a cascading impact, trains in other stations too suffered.” Chief Public Relations Officer B L Yashvanth Chavan confirmed the disruption in operations.