Days before launch, Delhi metro's unmanned Magenta Line metro train crashes; govt seeks report

Days before its inauguration, a Delhi Metro train running on Magenta Line rammed into a boundary wall on Tuesday at the Kalindi Kunj depot during its trial run.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said the metro train was on a trial run on the new magenta line that was to be opened by Modi on December 25.

The front portion of the metro train and a stretch of the depot’s boundary wall was damaged, the official said.

"A trial train was moved from the workshop without testing the brake system as a result of which, while the train was moving up the ramp for washing, it rolled back and hit the adjacent boundary wall," the DMRC said in its statement. 

"The DMRC has ordered a high level inquiry into this incident by a committee of three officers. Prima facie it appears, to be case of human error and negligence & appropriate action will be taken after the inquiry," the statement said.

Terming the incident as "shocking lapse" in passenger safety, the Delhi government has sought a report from the DMRC.

"I have sought a report from DMRC on the derailment of its driverless train during trial run on Kalkaji-botanical Garden. Shocking lapse! There can be no compromise onpassenger safety," Delhi Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the first section of Delhi Metro’s unmanned Magenta Line on December 25.

Spanning across 12.64 km, Delhi Metro Magenta Line is India's first driverless train service that will connect Botanical Garden in Noida to Delhi's Kalkaji Metro Station.

DMRC is using a new high tech signalling technology called the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) to run trains on Magenta Line.

Delhi: Empty metro train on trial run, breaks through boundary at Kalindi Kunj depot. Matter being probed. pic.twitter.com/kiqWn7TCVH

— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017