Title - Snag hits Dwarka-Noida, Vaishali Metro lines

Thousands of passengers were left stranded on Monday as a technical fault hit Delhi Metro's Blue line between Dwarka and Noida City Centre and Vaishali stations, resulting in overcrowding at stations and train delays.

Large crowds piled up at platforms all along the busy route that links Dwarka in west Delhi with Noida and Vaishali, in Uttar Pradesh.

"Metro services of Line 3 (Dwarka-Noida City Centre) and Line 4 (from Yamuna Bank to Vaishali) are running slowly, following a technical problem in the overhead electrification, which transmits energy to trains, on the Dwarka stretch at Shadipur and Patel Nagar," said a Delhi Metro official.The crowds were menacingly thick at Rajiv Chowk, the busiest Delhi Metro interchange station through which the Blue Line passes. Trains also stopped for 5-10 minutes on the route on several occasions, said Devansh, a student travelling from Rajiv Chowk to Noida.

"It took me one hour from 1.30 p.m. to reach Noida Sector 16, a distance which normally takes just 30 minutes," he said.

Normally, a train plies every three minutes between Dwarka and Yamuna Bank. From there every alternate train goes to Vaishali and Noida City Centre.

A Metro official said regular announcements were made at all the stations and in trains about the delay due to the technical problem.

The 49-km Blue line that covers 43 stations in some of the most populous parts of the capital, is the longest Delhi Metro route.