Hyderabad: Signalling issues halt metro train

Hyderabad: Approximately one lakh people travelled on the metro rail on the first day of commercial operations. The huge response took the operators by surprise and they struggled to cope with the load. 

Fourteen trains are in operation, seven from Miyapur to Ameerpet and seven from Ameerpet to Nagole. From Nagole to Ameerpet there is a train every 15 minutes whereas from Ameerpet to Miyapur there is a train every eight minutes. A total of 360 trips have been planned for one day.

The travel time from Miyapur to Ameerpet is 23 minutes and from Ameerpet to Nagole, 45 minutes. 

When the train stopped because of signalling issues, passengers heard an automated announcement saying that the inconvenience was regretted. There were complaints of smart cards not working and at some places the token containers were filled to the brim due to which the tokens were not being accepted. 

A senior officer said that “50,000 to 70,000 passengers were expected, but the numbers have been very high. Due to the huge tokens going in, the system had no place for extra tokens and it had to be unlocked, the tokens removed, and reset, which takes time."

Some people thought one token was enough to travel the entire route. “At the exit they were told that they can only travel to one point and it can’t be used further. For now, we are only warning and not charging any penalty but these mischief mongers will be fined the next time,” Mr Reddy said.

With smart cards, the valuation could not be seen by late evening as there was a server problem. Ticket vending machines were not working in Parade Grounds, Rasoolpura, KPHB colony and many other stations. All these are system issues and L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited has stated that most of these will be rectified in the next two days.