BENGALURU: The major disruption on the Purple Line of Namma Metro on Tuesday evening was caused by a misalignment in the third rail system, an incident that Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) officials described as unprecedented in the Metro’s 16 years of operations.
Metro services on the underground section came to a complete standstill on Tuesday evening, affecting operations for nearly five hours. Full restoration of services was done almost 10 hours later, with normal operations resuming at 5 am on Wednesday.
According to a senior BMRCL official, a component in the third rail system, which supplies power to trains, had come out of alignment, resulting in the train being immobilised.
BMRCL took a power shutdown around 9 pm and completed restoration work by 11 pm. However, inspections and trial runs were conducted overnight before passenger services resumed on Wednesday morning.
He also said they were surprised by the incident, noting that the third rail system, which powers trains across the Metro network, is considered a highly robust and reliable system.
“We are also surprised as to why this happened because such an incident should not have occurred in the first place. This is one of a kind and detailed technical investigations are under way to ascertain the exact reasons,” the official said.
The official added that maintenance of the third rail system is carried out regularly, either every week or once in 15 days, and that scheduled inspections are never missed. Multiple departments are currently examining the incident to determine its root cause.
Amid concerns raised by commuters, BMRCL assured passengers that established evacuation procedures are in place in the event of trains getting stranded inside tunnels as passenger safety the priority. BMRCL is expected to complete a detailed technical investigation into the incident in the coming days.
