Magenta Line: Metro on trial run rams into wall

New Delhi: Days before the inauguration of the Kalkaji Mandir-Botanical Garden corridor by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Delhi Metro train crashed into a wall on Tuesday at Kalindi Kunj depot when it rolled back on a ramp while being taken for washing.

There were no casualties according to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which blamed the incident on “human error and negligence” during maintenance and asserted it will have no bearing on the December 25 launch.

A DMRC official said that the empty train, part of Metro’s new generation ‘driverless’ fleet, broke through a portion of the boundary wall at the depot around 3.40 pm as it rolled back. “A trial train was moved from the workshop without testing the brake system.

As a result of this, while the train was moving up the ramp for washing, it rolled back and hit the adjacent boundary wall,” the DMRC said in a statement. The Delhi government, meanwhile, also sought a report from the DMRC on the incident with transport minister Kailash Gahlot tweeting: “Shocking lapse! There can be no compromise on passenger safety.” The DMRC and the Delhi government are engaged in a running feud over the recent rise in commuting fares. The Arvind Kejriwal government continues to insist that the fare hike should be rolled back. The rear end of the train, which hit the wall, suffered damage and a portion of the wall collapsed, suggesting that the collision was quite intense. A high-level inquiry by a committee of three officers of the rank of executive directors has been ordered, the DMRC said. “Prima facie, it appears to be a case of human error and negligence and appropriate action will be taken after the inquiry,” the DMRC statement said.

As per DMRC’s laid down norms, when a train enters a workshop (depot), the brakes of the train are decommissioned so that the train and its systems, including the brakes, can be freely checked.