Metro, rail, road — all traffic stops

Delhi woke up to a commuting nightmare on Monday as Metro and train services were affected due to the breakdown of power supply from Northern Grid.

Rush-hour traffic was also thrown out of gear, after almost all traffic signals stopped working. No accidents were reported due to the signal failure.

The Delhi Traffic Police said personnel were deployed at all intersections to manage the traffic manually.

Among the worst affected stretches were Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Mathura Road, NH-8, NH-24.

"We knew that all traffic signals would stop working (due to the power cut), so we ensured that personnel are deployed at all relevant sections, before the peak-hour started. Fifty per cent of signals were restored by 10 am and others by 2 pm," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg said.

"Traffic moved at slow pace, no serious jams were reported. It is advisable to have a UPS or solar source power for traffic signals, and we are looking at options to avoid any such situation in future," Garg said.

The Metro services started an hour late, at 7 am, as trains could not be taken out of the depots, in accordance with normal schedule.

"Auxiliary and traction power supply of all Metro lines/depots was not available from 2.35 am to 06.58 am," a DMRC official said.

Even at 7 am, Metro trains were rolled out of depots in a phased manner and regular services resumed from 9 am.

Rail services were the worst hit as 100 trains were affected due to the grid failure, officials said.

Neeraj Sharma CPRO of Northern Railway said: "At 2.32 am, all the trains were stranded wherever they were."

Even Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains were delayed by 4 to 6 hours.

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