Chennai: A collision was averted Tuesday night at Ashok Nagar Metro station (erroneously earlier stated as Ekkattuthangal station) when two trains were found on the same track.

A spokesperson of Chennai Metro Rail Limited later claimed that as one of the trains got stranded on the track due to a glitch, another train was brought to pull it away.

Though the officials acted swiftly, passengers went through a harrowing experience as they were stranded for a long time.

Normal operations resumed soon after the situation was brought under control.

The incident happened around 8 pm Tuesday at Ashok Nagar Metro station. A train from Koyambedu encountered another train that was stationed on the premises.

As the driver realised the gravity of the situation, he applied the brakes and averted a major mishap and tragedy.

One of the passengers said, “Trains being on the same track happens in Indian Railways as signalling is done manually. But, in the case of Metro trains, everything is automated. Yesterday’s incident raises questions about the reliability and trustworthiness of the control systems used by CMRL. It has to be seen how they function as the years go by.”

A Chennai Metro Rail Ltd spokesperson said, “Due to a minor internal problem, one of the trains got stuck at Ashok Nagar Metro station following which another train halted on the track. But officials monitored the situation closely and solved the problem in half-an-hour post which usual operations commenced.”

It would be pertinent to mention that Metro trains’ signalling systems saw a series of blockades not once but twice last year.
In November last year, Metro trains got halted between St Thomas Mount and Alandur stations due to signalling and electrical issues in their software. It took two hours for the officials to sort out the problems and the trains to begin running as usual.

In September, trains were halted after the signalling software got corrupted.