Kolkata Metro services partially disrupted

Metro railway services in Kolkata were partially disrupted following reports of sparks and smoke in the Dum Dum bound upline between Maidan and Rabindra Sadan stations on Monday.

A train that was entering the Rabindra Sadan station on the upline was halted and vacated as part of the station got covered in smoke bellowing out of the tunnel, metro railway sources said.

Metro railway sources said a spark was seen between Maidan and Rabindra Sadan station on the up line around 12.30 p.m. "There was also some smoke. As a safety measure, we decided to halt services between Central and Tollygunge (Mahanayak Uttam Kumar) stations. Truncated services are now been run between Central and Dum Dum as also between Tollygunge and New Garia stations," the sources said.

The power supply between Maidan and Rabindra Sadan stations was switched off after the incident.

"The Dum Dum bound train was stopped as it was entering the Rabindra Sadan station as a safety measure. The engineers decided to switch off the power supply between Maidan and Rabindra Sadan stations. The engineers are now checking the line," a Metro railway spokesperson told IANS.

Eyewitnesses said fire brigade and metro railway engineers reached the spot soon after the incident.

Reports said there was another spark followed by smoke on the up line of the tunnel at the same spot at around 1.45 p.m. when the engineers tried to restore the power supply. However, there was no official confirmation.

Thousands of inconvenienced passengers gathered at various metro stations waiting for the services to resume. IANS