Hyderabad: Metro train stalled due to pollution, schedule hit

HYDERABAD: Metro rail services on the Blue Line got disrupted at about 10.30 am on Saturday, when a train stalled at the Prakash Nagar station. The passengers were disembarked and the train was pushed to the pocket track (siding) by another train.

While Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited claimed the interruption was due to electrical failure, highly placed sources attributed it to pollution issues. It is said that burning of garbage is causing a coating of pollutants to be formed on the equipment, which stalled the train. This year alone, Metro rail services have been disrupted more than 10 times, the reasons being hoardings falling on the power cables, signalling glitches, electrical failure and pollution issues.

Sources said the Metro rails’s communica-tions-based train control (CBTC) technology is of very high safety standards and the stalling of the train at the Prakash Nagar led to an automatic cut off, which turned all signals red. This had a cascading effect during rush hour on the Miyapur-Nagole line.

Metro rail authorities asked L&T to request Thales, the French company that has supplied the CBTC signalling and train control system, to make necessary modifications to the system, so that it can suit the rugged Indian conditions.

Sources said most of the equipment used in Metro rail operations is highly sensitive and does not suit Indian conditions.

Though HMRL has tried to adapt the equipment to local conditions, it has barely succeeded. Authorities are still to find equipment compatible with Hyderabad’s conditions.

Saturday was the third time in the year that Metro Rail operations got interrupted due to pollution, with similar incidents occurring in June and July too.

Metro Rail authorities on record claimed that the services halted due to electric disruption. HMRL managing director N.V.S. Reddy stated that there was an electrical failure in a train at Prakash Nagar, and the failed electrical part was being repaired.