NEW DELHI, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of passengers were stuck Wednesday inside metro rail on the first day of its commercial run in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
The Lucknow metro train halted following a technical snag, following which authorities have to evacuate onboard passengers through emergency exits.
"There was some technical problem in the train because of which it got halted," an official said.
The passengers, including school children and employees were confined in the metro for over an hour without lights and air conditioning.
"The first day run was marred by the technical snag," Amit Sharma, a local said. "We were very excited but after the train stalled between Mawaiyya and Durgapuri stations, team of officials from the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) arrived and later on evacuate passengers through emergency exit doors."
The metro train was inaugurated on Tuesday by federal minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Wednesday was the first day of its commercial run.
The opposition leader and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav took a potshot on the government over the halting of new train on first day.
"The Lucknow metro had been built and was ready for a while now. The federal government through the commissioner of metro rail safety took such a long time to give the no-objection certificate (NOC). Despite that the metro failed on the first day!" Yadav said.
The Indian government is trying to extend metro rail services to major cities to minimize rush of vehicular traffic on roads.
