Kolkata metro stuck in tunnel for 20 minutes due to signal glitch, fallen tree

Commuters on Kolkata’s Blue Line faced a distressing afternoon on Thursday, as a combination of technical failures and environmental factors brought the city's primary metro corridor to a standstill. At approximately 2:30 pm, a metro rake traveling on the Dakshineswar–Shahid Khudiram stretch came to an abrupt halt inside a tunnel due to severe signaling problems. Passengers remained trapped in the dark underground for nearly 20 minutes.

The disruption was further complicated by a fallen tree on the down line between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) and Netaji stations. The obstruction forced authorities to immediately suspend through-train services across the southern section of the line. While technical teams were dispatched to clear the tracks and rectify the signaling issue, the Metro Railway struggled to maintain a consistent schedule for the thousands of office-goers and students reliant on the network during the afternoon rush.

To manage the fallout, Metro authorities implemented truncated services, restricting operations to the segment between Dakshineswar and Maidan. This left a significant portion of the southern corridor, including major transit hubs, without rail connectivity, forcing stranded passengers to spill onto the streets in search of alternative transport like buses and autos. Official sources stated that the signal error and the track obstruction occurred almost simultaneously, compounding the challenge for the engineering department.