Cable theft hits services on Delhi Metro’s Blue Line

Services on the Delhi Metro’s Blue line were affected on Thursday morning due to a theft of cable between Moti Nagar and Kirti Nagar stretch, police officials said.

The Delhi police said signalling controller of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) informed around 6 am that about 150 metres of transmission cable (TC) along the railway track between Moti Nagar and Kirti Nagar had been stolen.

“As a result, the speed of Metro trains was reduced to 25-30 km/ph from normal speed of 70 km/ph between the two stations in the morning hours. Normal services were restored at 1:38 pm after repair work,” a police statement said.

A case was registered under Section 303(2) (theft) and 329(3) (trespassing) of the BNS in respect with Section 74 (sabotage) of the DMRC Act has been registered and further investigations are on.

The DMRC, in a statement, said: “Initially, a decision was taken to carry out the repair work at night after the end of passenger services. However, keeping in mind the convenience of the passengers, especially during the evening peak hours, it was decided to attempt the restoration during the afternoon non-peak hours.”

Accordingly, a specialised team of 20 personnel was formed and deployed at the affected area at 1 pm to carry out the repair work, the DMRC said.

“A total of 140 metres of cable had been damaged and these personnel executed the restoration work in a record time of just over 30 minutes,” it added.