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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
 Posted - 08/10/2009 : 09:02:56
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The recent Metro Railway accidents have put your government and the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) under the scanner. Are safety parameters being violated?
The Metro is a corporation. Both we and the Government of India have a share, but the real power has been given to the corporation with [E.] Sreedharan at the top. It’s been something that has been talked about internationally.
The accidents have been very unfortunate. But I still say that we have to get on with the work. The criticism has come in just now. I think Sreedharan is also clear in his mind that we have to get on.
While you seem to suggest that there should not be any separate probe, your Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely seems to think otherwise.
I don’t know why Mr. Lovely made that statement, but there are no differences in the Cabinet. We are clear that the DMRC has to be given independence.
Gammon India has also had a bad history. How is the overall equation with the organisation?
Gammon was chosen as L&T or any other company is. Now, Gammon has made other parts also and they seem to be alright. It seems to me that there was a slight defect in the design. Whether Gammon is responsible or the engineers who designed it… we will have to wait as Gammon is not the designer. They are the contractors.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has accused the DMRC of violating safety parameters and has blamed the Delhi government for intervening in the CAG’s independence regarding the audit of the DMRC.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2009 : 09:15:39
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Delhi Metro skipped vital quality checks
Megha Suri, TNN 19 August 2009, 04:54pm IST
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NEW DELHI: The inquiry report into the July 12 incident at the Metro construction site in Zamrudpur is a damning indictment of the way Delhi Metro
Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been cutting corners to meet deadlines, or even stay ahead of them.
What DMRC made public on July 28 omits critical observations and conclusions in the report that put a huge question mark over DMRC's functioning and safety of the structures it has built.
A shocking observation made by the inquiry committee on the reasons for collapse of the concrete girder resting on Pier-67 — TOI has a copy in its possession — is that the drawings followed for construction of the pier were just ‘‘advance copies’’ which were ‘‘not authenticated by DMRC’s design section’’.
Much more disturbingly, the report states, ‘‘on occasion, work commences without ‘Good for Construction’ signed drawings to avoid delay in construction; at a later stage the project team authenticates the calculations/drawings with DMRC’s designers. In case of Pier-67, authenticated designs are yet to be finalised.’’
In many cases, checks are completely bypassed, says the report. Not all designs prepared by the contractors in ‘design and build contracts’, common in Phase II, are checked by DMRC’s design team. The report says ‘‘DMRC’s design cell is not equipped to proof-check each and every submission in detail though they generally check designs of critical items.’’
The callousness of DMRC is even more evident in the bypassing of seismic checks. The inquiry committee found that a seismic analysis that was required to be carried out on the viaduct (concrete portion joining piers on which the tracks are laid), in accordance with Indian Standard IRC6:2000 clause 222, was never done. This, according to the report, is a ‘‘mandatory provision to improve the performance of bridges during earthquakes in seismic zones IV and V.’’ Delhi lies in Seismic Zone IV.
The design defect in P-67 had been acknowledged by DMRC managing director E Sreedharan at a press conference. ‘‘The main top reinforcement (ssteel rods) in the cantilever (bars no 1 and 2) are not extended into the cantilever-pier joint to have the requisite overlap with the main reinforcement of the pier,’’ the report observes.
But what DMRC didn’t let out was the fact that the joint of the cantilever and Pier-67 was ‘‘not checked for integrity’’ i.e whether they were unified and strong enough. The committee found that the ‘‘minimal transverse reinforcement of the pier extends only 300mm into the joint’’.
The probe panel has, in fact, questioned the very design document based on which the pier cap for cantilevers are being constructed. The document (dated 30 December, 2008), says the report, is ‘‘a first submission which contains only crude calculations with overestimated loads which does not ensure a safe design. It does not include estimation of all loads (eg seismic, temperature etc) and their combinations to be used for design...The same has been implemented on the site.’’
That the quality of concrete used lacked strength had been made public by DMRC but the report says ‘‘the concrete fails to meet the strength criterion by a wide margin’’. It cites the reports submitted by Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research Test House in this regard.
The panel, which submitted its report to DMRC on July 23, didn’t find any major flaws in workmanship. The members of the committee included Dr AK Nagpal, professor, department of civil engineering at IIT Delhi; Dr PR Bose, professor at Delhi College of Engineering; Steve Lowry, project director, general design (DMRC); and DMRC design head Rajan Kataria, who was later removed from the panel.
Pier-67 was cast on December 22, 2008, and the cantilever on the pier on January 28, 2009. The span between Piers 67 and 66 on this line was launched on March 28 this year. Construction work on the Metro section was stopped after engineers observed diagonal cracks on the pier cap on April 1 this year with the maximum width measured at 0.4 mm. Work was resumed three months later.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2009 : 10:56:12
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Metro completes 2.85km tunnelling work
Megha Suri, TNN 20 August 2009, 05:28am IST
NEW DELHI: Bringing the city closer to Delhi Metro's second Phase of operations, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday completed construction of the largest tunnel in any urban city in India under the Central Ridge. In order to preserve the rare and diverse flora and fauna of the protected forest, the 2.85km-long tunnel from Talkatora to Buddha Jayanti Park was made using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM). With this tunnel breakthrough, only 2km of tunnelling is left to be completed for Phase II, in which 35km of the Metro is underground.
The alignment of Metro line for the Airport Express Line goes under the ridge, which has several rare species of trees and animals. To ensure these are preserved, DMRC decided to adopt the NATM method in which a tunnel is constructed by controlled blasting under the earth's surface.
Construction of the tunnel began in December 2007, when three access shafts were dug up one each at the start and end of the tunnel and one in the middle.
Controlled explosions were carried out at several locations to break the rock and the pieces taken out through the shafts. Once the muck was cleared, the tunnel was given a concrete lining. The process was extremely challenging for DMRC as soil conditions were mixed and unknown, and all through the process, the ridge couldn't be disturbed. To ensure safety and keep the earth from caving in, engineers say they moved very slowly and created just about 1.5 metres of the tunnel daily. All through construction, equipment such as 3D targets, extensometers and inclinometers were used to monitor settlements.
"A total of 5.2 million manhours, including 0.7 million of engineers and technical staff, were utilised during the tunnelling,'' said a DMRC official.
The other option available was the cut-and-cover technique, but that would have required clearing the entire surface over the tunnel alignment to dig and create it. This would have destroyed the forest. Due to time constraint, a tunnel boring machine couldn't have been used either as the tunnel had to be created in a record two years, in time for the Commonwealth Games.
Unlike other underground Delhi Metro lines which have two tunnels, one for the train running in either direction, here, there is a single oval-shaped bore in which both the Metro tracks will be laid after creating a central wall for track separation. This large bore makes it the largest tunnel created in any urban city in India.
Delhi Metro's Phase II spans across 125km, of which 35km is underground. DMRC used three techniques for underground stretches tunnel boring machines, NATM and the traditional cut-and-cover method. Now, only five drives by TBMs remain to cover about 1.3km, of which 675m is on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line and 600m on the Airport Express Line. Besides this, about 550m to be constructed by cut-and-cover method remains on the Airport Express Line.
In Phase-I, NATM technology was used in Chawri Bazaar. The technology originated between 1957 and 1965 in Austria and has been used in many places across the world. |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2009 : 02:55:20
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Delhi Metro to hike parking fees
http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/23/stories/2009082359360400.htm
Rates decided by contractors: DMRC
Parking lot contracts to be renewed
At some places, hike already implemented
NEW DELHI: When the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation recently announced that it would streamline the monthly parking system at its stations to benefit regular commuters, what it forgot to mention was an impending increase in the parking fees.
Turns out commuters who are regulars at the metro parking lots will have to loosen their purse strings in the coming days. At some parking bays, an increase in fees has already been implemented. For instance at Rohini commuters now have to pay Rs.500 instead of Rs.300 for a monthly parking facility and at Patel Chowk too commuters have been warned of a similar hike in fees.
“Without any intimation the fee was increased by Rs.200. There should have been some kind of a notice,” complained Sanjay Mehra, a regular commuter and a smart card user who parks his car at the Rohini station to commute to Connaught Place by metro.
The DMRC for its part claims that the parking lots are run by contractors hired after inviting bids. “Each parking lot is run by a contractor selected after a bidding process. They are hired for a two-year term and they decide the parking fees after assessing the market. They pay the DMRC a certain fee per month,” said an official. He said the contracts for the parking lots currently in use
would soon be renewed and the fees at most of these stations are likely to go up. “Each contractor will decide on the monthly fee and not the DMRC. At some stations the contracts have been renewed,” the official said.
“The parking fee at the DMRC stations is decided after market research and it is much less when compared with the fees levied by the MCD or NDMC,” he added.
Faced with a parking crunch at its stations, the DMRC recently announced that the bays would now be open to only regular commuters with smart cards.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2009 : 19:14:26
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Rahul takes a Metro after rain brings traffic to halt http://www.ptinews.com/news/242110_Rahul-takes-a-Metro-after-rain-brings-traffic-to-halt
New Delhi, Aug.21 (PTI) The massive traffic jams after rains pounded the Capital led an unlikely passenger to take the Metro tonight.
The passenger was none other than Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul took the Metro to reach as close as possible to his 10 Janpath home after he returned to the Capital from Raipur after a two-day visit to Chattisgarh, according to a security official.
The AICC General Secretary after landing at the IGIA took a detour and went to nearby Metro station at Dwarka to board the underground train that took him to Rajiv Chowk station, about two kms from his home.
Rahul covered a substantial part of his journey home by the Metro train.
Traffic on all arterial roads in the capital went haywire for several hours after the heavy rains and hundreds of vehicles remained stuck for varying durations in the snarls.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2009 : 19:50:08
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Metro to use new technology for Airport Line
It would allow trains on this section to travel with ease at a speed of 135 km per hour
‘Low on maintenance, high on performance’
‘Can lay up to 550 to 600 m. of track per day’
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro railway’s ambitious new Airport Express Link that will connect New Delhi railway station with Indira Gandhi International Airport will be the first in the country to use contemporary technology for railway tracks – RHEDA-2000. Suited for very high-speed corridors, the technology will allow trains on this section to travel with ease at a speed of 135 km per hour.
A ballast-less track, the 22.7-km Airport Express Link has a completion deadline of February 2010. Fortified with RHEDA it will have the advantage of being low on maintenance and high on performance.
In ballast-less tracks, the ballast (stones) are replaced by a bed of concrete and the rails rest on rubber pads placed over concrete sleepers fixed on the concrete bed.
“RHEDA is a new technology that is evolving globally and allows a major technological breakthrough. It has various advantages, the foremost being the availability of track almost 24x7,” says executive chairman of Patil Rail Infrastructure Private Limited (PRIL) L. S. Patil. The company has bagged the mega-project to design, manufacture, supply and supervise the laying of the ballast-less track solution for the Airport Express Link.
Referring to the advantages of the new technology, Mr. Patil explains: “A ballast-less track needs less maintenance and therefore the track’s availability is almost 99 per cent. This means, since the track does not need closing down for maintenance, it is open to traffic throughout. Also, the track’s life span is 60 years, and with RHEDA-2000 trains can travel at speeds up to 350-400 km per hour.”
The RHEDA technology was first used in Germany’s Rheda region (from where it gets its name) in 1972 and is currently under implementation across 3,800 km of track in countries such as Korea, Taiwan and Britain, says PRIL director Hans Bachmann.
According to him, the technology combines long-term experience, flexibility of adaptation to different applications, safety and a high degree of constructability.
Ballast-less tracks that cost 40-50 per cent more than ballast tracks however do not take longer to lay. “The expenses are 40-50 per cent more, but the laying is fast; we can lay up to 550 to 600 metres of track per day,” says Mr. Patil.
According to him, though the Airport Express Link has been designed for speeds of up to 160 km per hour, trains on this segment will be limited to run at a speed of 135 km per hour.
RHEDA-2000 ballast-less track solutions being implemented by Patil Rail Infrastructure have been developed in India in collaboration with RailOne AG, Germany, designers and implementers of high-speed rail track solutions in Europe.
Patil Rail is also in the process of installing RHEDA ballast-less tracks on the upcoming new Jammu-Kashmir railway line.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2009 : 11:07:01
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Ministry of Textiles, DMRC tie up: handicraft kiosks at Metro statio
Ministry of Textiles, DMRC tie up: handicraft kiosks at Metro stations
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ministry-of-textiles-dmrc-tie-up-handicraft-kiosks-at-metro-stations/501843/
Friday , Aug 14, 2009 at 0050 hrs
New Delhi:
Eighty Metro stations which register high footfalls have been selected to set up handicraft kiosks to promote handicrafts and handloom products.
In a tie-up with the Ministry of Textiles, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will showcase Indian handicrafts and provide a platform to make them commercially available.
Around 160 high-quality kiosks will be created by the Delhi Metro and installed
at existing and upcoming Metro stations in a phased manner starting from October 2009.
“The Ministry had expressed interest in setting up the kiosks at Metro stations to promote handicraft and handloom products as the shops will be located at high-visibility positions where footfall is high,” said DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal.
As part of the first installment for providing space and maintaining the kiosks, an amount of Rs five crore was handed over to DMRC Managing Director ESreedharan on Thursday by Secretary (Textiles), Rita Menon.
Another Rs five crore will be paid by the Ministry of Textiles subsequently.
The kiosks are expected to be popular among Metro commuters and foreign buyers, expected in large numbers during the Commonwealth Games.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2009 : 11:08:15
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tripping of Delhi Metro
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kiteflying-leads-to-ohe-tripping-of-delhi-metr
o/502536/
Sunday , Aug 16, 2009 at 0329 hrs
New Delhi:
Kite-flying in the city on Independence Day led to the tripping of Over Head Equipment (OHE) of the Delhi Metro at least three times on Saturday. Services were not affected, according to officials. Power tripping due to kite-flying on Independence Day is not unusual. This year, the instances of OHE trippings were far less than last year when the OHE tripped 28 times, according to DMRC officials.
Tripping on account of kite-flying were reported till around 5.30 pm. and the OHE was restored within seconds, sources said.
The DMRC had deployed a junior engineer, an unskilled staff and a maintainer to wield an insulated rod that can remove any kind of material falling on OHE.
The squads will patrol today and tomorrow.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2009 : 11:10:35
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Now, new-age tracks for faster travel on Metro Express Link
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/now-newage-tracks-for-faster-travel-on-metro-express-link/507072/
Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009 at 0025 hrs
New Delhi:
Soon, passengers making their way to the Delhi airport can hop on to Metro trains to experience faster, smoother travel. While at present Metro trains ply on existing tracks at a speed of around 80 kmph, after work on the new 45-km long Airport Metro Express Link is complete, the trains on the corridor can run with ease at 135 km per hour.
In addition, the coaches will be equipped to carry more load from passengers travelling to the airport with heavy baggage.
Both feats will be made possible using contemporary Metro rail technology.
Called RHEDA 2000 Ballast-less Track System, these tracks have concrete instead of stones filling the space between the gauges, which will enable trains to run at a speed of upto 160 kmph
The announcement was made by Patil Rail Infrastructure Pvt Ltd that has recently bagged the project of designing, manufacturing, supplying and supervising the laying of tracks for the Express Link—between the New Delhi Railway station and the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
While the other existing Delhi Metro tracks are also ballast-less, the new technology will enable the trains to run faster by incorporating certain design changes, the officials claim.
“The ballast-less tracks will ensure nearly 100 per cent availability because it is practically maintenance-free. By availability, I mean trains can now run 24/7 as you don’t need to stop traffic for line maintenance,” L S Patil,
executive chairman of the Patil Group told mediapersons at Pragati Maidan, where the Confederation of Indian Industry is holding a two-day International Railway Equipment Exhibition. The tracks will last for 40 years.
Other advantages of the RHEDA 2000 Track System are longer life span, high speed, riding comfort and great load-carrying capability. Laying these tracks is, however, more expensive than the normal tracks.
“One of the most important implementations of RHEDA 2000 is between Frankfurt and Cologne in Germany, with trains achieving speeds up to 300 kmph, Another 3,800 km of these tracks are under implementation worldwide,” director of the Patil Group Han Bachmann said.
The technology is being implemented by the Patil Rail Infrastructure in collaboration with RailOne AG, Germany, which made the first ballast-less tracks.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2009 : 20:15:58
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DMRC : Petition against Metro dismissed
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/02/stories/2009090257480400.htm
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed as withdrawn a petition by the residents’ welfare associations of some South Delhi colonies seeking adirection to the Delh i Metro Rail Corporation to go in for an underground line
on this upcoming new section.
The petitioners withdrew the petition when a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A. P. Shah and Justice Manmohan threatened to dismiss it saying they had digressed from their original prayers.
Earlier, counsel for the petitioners alleged that the design of the line was faulty and sub-standard material was used in its construction.
One of the original prayers of the petitioners was that the DMRC in its bid to meet the deadline for completing the project on the route before commencement of the Commonwealth Games in 2010 had thrown safety norms to the wind. They had urged the Court to ask the DMRC to go in for an underground line on this corridor. They said that the DMRC had failed to keep the assurance given to the Court that all apprehensions of the residents along the corridor, including
their safety, would be taken care of while building the elevated line. The DMRC had given this assurance to the Court last year before the pronouncement of judgment on a bunch of petitions challenging the construction of the elevated metro line on this section on the ground that it would impinge upon their privacy.
The proposed elevated Central Secretariat-Badarpur line, among others, will pass through Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Kailash Colony, Jangpura and Kalkaji.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2009 : 08:34:46
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A drive to promote metro rail etiquette
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/03/stories/2009090361650400.htm
NEW DELHI: Volunteers of the Metro Citizens’ Forum conducted a special awareness drive on Wednesday to enforce better behaviour and discipline among commuters inside Delhi Metro trains and at stations.
Nearly 30 volunteers divided themselves into three groups and travelled on all three operational routes of the Delhi Metro.
“Vacating seats reserved for women, senior citizens and physically challenged was the main focus of the drive. The volunteers helped many women and senior citizens get seats. They also requested commuters not to play loud music inside
the trains and helped them to queue up at the busy Rajiv Chowk station,” said
a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson.
The Metro Citizens’ Forum is an initiative by the DMRC to seek public
cooperation in instilling better behaviour, etiquettes and discipline among
metro passengers.
At present more than 300 volunteers are cooperating with metro officials in maintaining etiquettes and discipline in the trains and on stations.
“On an average, the metro carries about eight lakh commuters everyday. In the wake of increasing ridership and the scheduled opening of many new corridors in the coming year, such cooperation from commuters has become very important,” the spokesperson said.
Delhi Metro commuters who are interested in joining the forum can apply at metrocitizensforum@... . They can also contact the station managers of the metro stations for details.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2009 : 19:15:10
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108-metre cable stolen, Metro services derailed
TNN 9 September 2009, 01:51am IST
NEW DELHI: In a major breach of security in Delhi Metro, which has been on the hit-list of terror groups since its inception, a 108- metre-long signalling cable a copper wire was stolen from the elevated Metro line between Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha Metro stations on Monday night.
As a result, Delhi Metro services were affected on Line 3 (Yamuna Bank to Dwarka) and commuters at Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha stations had to wait for long for trains during the morning rush hour, as the trains were run with a frequency of 10-20 minutes. Normal train services were restored only by noon.
The theft came to light when train services began on the line around 6am and the signals on the tracks on one side were not functioning. "It was found that a 108-metre-long signalling cable was stolen from the line on Monday night, and this caused disruption in Metro services from Indraprastha to Yamuna Bank Metro station,'' said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson.
Shockingly, even as the culprit managed to climb onto the viaduct, which is about 16-17 metres above the road level, Delhi Police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which guard the Metro lines between stations and the Metro stations respectively traded blame on how the theft happened. Till Tuesday evening, the police had no clue about the miscreants. Through a case had been lodged at the Indraprastha Estate police station, no one had been arrested.
Senior police officials said the matter was being looked into. "We are waiting for the case to come to us after which we will investigate the matter. The Metro lines are either overground or underground and can only be accessed through the stations. Last week, we caught a man walking on the tracks at Rajeev Chowk. We have asked CISF to tighten security at the entry points,'' said B S Gujjar, additional deputy commissioner of police (crime and railways).
A CISF spokesperson, meanwhile, said all Metro installations between stations are guarded by Delhi police and the theft happened under their jurisdiction.
On Tuesday morning, bacause of the theft, DMRC was forced to operate trains on a single line and on manual mode between the two stations. "Due to manual operation, the trains were run with a frequency of 10-20 minutes on this stretch. To maintain routine frequency of five minutes on entire Line-3, short loop services were introduced between Indraprastha and Dwarka Sector 9. All other lines remained unaffected,'' the Metro spokesperson added.
Normal train services on the affected stretch were resumed by 12.18pm after a new cable was put.
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Delhi metro- Latest news
