A sudden power failure at the terminal station of Kolkata's East-West Metro corridor brought services to a grinding halt on Friday afternoon, causing significant distress to thousands of daily commuters. The disruption, originating at the Sector V station around 2 pm, led to a cascade of delays and severe overcrowding before normalcy was restored by 5 pm.
Afternoon Chaos on the Green Line
Unlike the more frequent issues plaguing the older Blue Line, this incident spotlighted the relatively new Green Line, which is equipped with advanced technology. The power trip at Sector V station triggered a "bunching effect" – a technical term for rakes getting stuck consecutively on the line. This resulted in long, unexplained waits for passengers at stations along the corridor.
Himani Agarwal, a New Town resident and private firm employee, described the scene. "Sector V station was teeming with people when I reached the station to catch the 4.05 pm like I usually do," she said. "There was no sign of the train. Finally, when it did arrive, almost all the seats got taken, even at this terminal station at a non-peak hour." She added that the train doors faced persistent problems shutting throughout her journey to Esplanade.
Technology Overwhelmed by Crowding
The Green Line operates with a modern Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system and features automatic platform screen doors and gates. According to sources, these automated systems failed to synchronize properly due to the unprecedented crowding caused by the disruption. This technical glitch further compounded the problems, making it difficult for doors to close safely at platforms.
The ordeal continued until the evening. Prosenjit Chakraborty, an executive from Howrah Maidan, recounted his experience at 4.45 pm. "When I tried to board a Howrah-bound train, train doors and platform screen doors faced trouble closing. A RPF personnel came rushing to stop several people from boarding the train so that doors could shut," he said, highlighting the safety concerns that emerged from the chaos.
Resumption of Services and Lingering Issues
While metro services officially resumed around 5 pm, the aftermath of the three-hour disruption was felt for much longer. The bunching of rakes meant that when trains finally began running, they were already packed, forcing commuters to struggle while boarding. The incident underscores the vulnerability of urban mass transit systems to technical faults and the rapid domino effect they can have on scheduled services and passenger safety.
The disruption on the East-West Metro line serves as a reminder that even new, technologically advanced infrastructure is not immune to failures, and managing crowd control during such breakdowns remains a critical challenge for authorities.
