Fire at Rabindra Sadan metro substation halts Kolkata services

What happened

A fire broke out in an electrical sub-station at Rabindra Sadan station on the Kolkata metro on the evening of Tuesday 25 July 2017. Smoke and sparks were first seen at a sub-station beside the JL Nehru Museum. Metro Rail withdrew 50 per cent of the power supply and later cut power from the third rail at four stations between Esplanade and Rabindra Sadan. Services between Central and Tollygunge were suspended at the evening peak, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, and a truncated service ran between Central and Dum Dum and between Tollygunge and Kavi Subhas.

Back-up power was used to move trains out of the stations, and nobody was injured or trapped in any rake. Firefighters and Metro Rail engineers worked through the evening, but the Central to Tollygunge section could not be reopened that night. A CESC spokesperson said the fire started in the DC panel at the substation.

Contributing factors

The source attributes the fire to the DC panel at the substation, and no further cause was given. The timing at the evening peak increased the number of stranded passengers and limited surface transport.

Lessons learned

1. Fault detection and isolation of DC switchgear should be tested so that power can be cut quickly while the rest of the network stays in service.
2. Operators should keep back-up power and a truncated-service plan ready so that trains can be cleared from stations safely.
3. Rail and power operators should agree in advance how they will communicate and assist each other during a substation fire, including passenger messaging and alternative transport for the evening peak.

More lessons on detection and monitoring, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Source

The Times of India (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)