Rush-hour commuters suffered a harrowing time on Thursday morning when Metro services were disrupted for nearly three hours after a technical fault in a rake led to the breakdown of power supply.

Services in both the new and old section had to be suspended. An inquiry has been ordered by the general manager of Metro Railway.

There was a maddening rush at Metro stations as irate passengers moved helter-skelter after services were stopped.

“I reached Tollygunge Metro station to go to New Market, where I had important work. However, when I reached Tollygunge, I first saw a serpentine queue that had spilled over to the streets and then I heard the services were suspended. Many like us who were rushing to office were in a fix. I took a taxi all the way to my office,” said Manish Basu, a resident of Tollygunge.

Metro services between Tollygunge to Garia Bazar were suspended from 10.30 am to 1.20 pm. Again, services between Tollygunge and Dum Dum station too remained partially affected in different phases from 11 am to 11.45 am. Commuters heaved a sigh of relief after services resumed at 1.20 pm in the entire section from Garia Bazar to Dum Dum and back.

Sources said the “third rail” feeding electricity to trains ruptured around 10.30 am on the recently extended stretch of Birji station, leading to suspension of services between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Kabi Nazrul. Services resumed after the line was repaired by engineers. Power failure was also reported from Dum Dum station at the same time, leading to disruption of services till Tollygunge station.

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