Bengaluru Metro’s Purple Line hit by temporary technical glitch, causes delay

In yet another interruption in service in the Purple Line of Bengaluru’s Namma Metro, trains running on Monday morning faced a brief technical snag. This resulted in unforeseen delays causing inconvenience to passengers. For a brief period between 10am and 11am, information boards in the train stations went blank and trains came to a halt or moved slower than usual. Some passengers were stuck in stations for more than 30 minutes.

Trains have been plying at intervals of 15 minutes since December 12 when structural damage in the metro track's bridge near the Trinity Metro Station were spotted. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has already announced that trains will not run between MG Road and Indiranagar from 8pm on December 28 to December 30.

A metro passenger said, “Not only are the trains running late, but it is stopping for more than three-five minutes in every station.” The metro officials and security personnel in the stations were not informed of the problem.

“There is a technical glitch in Purple Line between MG Road to Baiyappanahalli. Trains will be running slow till restored in this section. Hence expect delays in this line . Inconvenience regretted,” Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited tweeted.

There is a technical glitch in purple line between MG Road to Biayappanahalli. Trains will be running slow till restored in this section. Hence expect delays in this line . Inconvenience regretted

— BMRCL (@cpronammametro) December 24, 2018

The resultant delays in the stretch in turn caused a disruption in the services along the entire stretch between Mysore Road and Byappanahalli. Train services along the Green Line were, however, unaffected.

After the issue was resolved, the Chief Public Relations Officer Chavan told TNM, “Our priority is to ensure that the rest of the services are running smoothly. We are trying to ascertain what caused the problem.”

BMRCL officials said that the delays were caused due to a problem in the metro’s signaling system in both directions between the two stations. Informed sources said the snag was caused by an interruption of power supply but it is yet to be ascertained.