New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS): Delhi Metro commuters faced a harrowing time Wednesday when a technical snag affected services on a line for around 45 minutes, causing trains to run slow and halt for several minutes at many stations resulting in overcrowding.

Operations on the Blue Line, which operates from Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida City Centre/Vaishali, were affected at 9.15 a.m. when the power brakes of a Noida-bound train got applied, restricting the train's movement.

"Metro services from Dwarka Sector 14 to Dwarka Sector-21 on the Dwarka-Noida City Centre line were briefly affected today (Wednesday) due to a technical problem with a train after it departed from the Dwarka Sector-14 platform towards Noida at 9.15 a.m. as its power brakes (got) applied, restricting forward movement," the Delhi Metro said in a statement.

The statement added that immediate troubleshooting was attempted by sending a technical team under the frame of the train to release its brakes, but the train was not able to move forward.

"...in order to avoid any unwarranted delay and the cascading effect in the services on the entire line, it was preferred to de-board around 500 passengers from the train which was withdrawn from service and sent to the depot for further investigation at 10 a.m.," the statement added.

Single line operation was introduced between the Dwarka and Dwarka sector 21 stations and vice versa from 9.15 a.m. to 10 a.m. to carry passengers.

Trains from Dwarka to Noida City Centre/Vaishali were running as per normal schedule. Normal services were restored at 10 a.m.

"I boarded a train at 9.15 a.m. from Dwarka Sector 9 station which kept standing till around 10 a.m. I reached my office in Noida only at 12 p.m.," Sangeeta, a commuter, said.

Nearly seven lakh passengers travel daily by the Blue Line on an average.