2nd suicide bid in 4 days hits metro ops

Kolkata: Metro services were suspended between Maidan and the southern terminal, Shahid Khudiram stations, for around 50 minutes on Sunday morning because of another suicide attempt on the North-South, or Blue Line."A passenger attempted suicide by jumping in front of a Dakshineswar-bound metro at Rabindra Sarobar station at 10.45am. Truncated operations were operated between Maidan and Dakshineswar stations. Normal services resumed over the entire Blue Line corridor at 11.33am," a Metro Railway spokesperson said.
He said metro staff rushed to the spot and the third rail, which carries electricity for the rake movement, was switched off to rescue the person."The train was heading from Shahid Khudiram towards Dakshineswar. Around 10.45am, a man jumped in front of the moving train. The driver applied the emergency brakes immediately. Efforts were on to rescue the passenger, for which power to the tracks was disconnected," the Metro official said.Regular announcements were made at the stations to inform commuters, but Asit Das, a commuter, said, "I planned to go to Dakshineswar temple this morning. As I stepped into Shahid Khudiram, I was told there was a suicide bid and trains were only running in the Maidan-Dakshineswar section. Since the distance is pretty long, I took a bus to Maidan and took a train to Dakshineswar."Blue Line Metro services were hit for an hour during the peak evening rush on Thursday after a passenger jumped in front of a speeding train bound for Shahid Khudiram.