Passenger jumps on track at Jalahalli metro station in Bengaluru, train ops hit for an hour

The train's loco pilot was able to apply emergency brakes and slow the train down. Security guards then switched off the power supply to the third rail through the emergency trip system.

Bengaluru: A passenger jumped on the metro track as soon as a train chugged into the Jalahalli station on Friday evening, disrupting train services between Yeshwantpur and Nagasandra in northern Bengaluru for nearly an hour. 

Police identified the passenger as 23-year-old Saron, a native of Kerala's Alappuzha district and employed as a CNC operator at Samarath Automotive Pvt Ltd in Achappa Layout, Abbigere. He suffered head injuries and is being treated at a private hospital, officials said. He has been kept under observation, officials said.

The train's loco pilot was able to apply emergency brakes and slow the train down as the man jumped on the track at 7.12 pm. The passenger was still hit by the train. Security guards then switched off the power supply to the third rail through the emergency trip system. 

Following the incident, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) ran trains on the Green Line only between Silk Institute and Yeshwantpur. The services were restored on the entire line around 8 pm, said B L Yashavanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL.  

Passengers of four trains running at different stations between Yeshwantpur and Nagasandra have been evacuated, he added. 

The disruption caused chaos at the Yeshwantpur metro station, which is located right across the Yeshwantpur railway station and sees high footfall. A passenger headed to Jalahalli said the train from Majestic stopped at the Sandal Soap Factory metro station for 10 minutes before making its way to Yeshwantpur. "But as soon as the train reached Yeshwantpur, we were asked to deboard," she said. 

Naren S, a data scientist who got off the metro at Yeshwantpur during the incident, said the train was packed and an announcement made by the loco pilot didn't help things. 

When passengers finally got off, there was no word on when the next train would arrive, he said. "The security didn't seem to know. After some time, there was an announcement that there was a signalling issue and we had to leave the station. This led to overcrowding at the exit gates. There were long lines," he said. 

Naren complained that the BMRCL didn't arrange any bus or another transport system for people, leaving them at the "mercy" of auto drivers. 

This is the second incident in a week of a passenger jumping on the metro track. 

On January 1, a woman jumped on the metro railway track at the Indiranagar station to pick up her fallen mobile phone, disrupting the metro service on the Purple Line for 15 minutes, officials said. She was immediately pulled back by a co-passenger, and escaped unhurt.