On Tuesday, for the fifth consectuive day, it took me more than 80 minutes to cover a distance usually covered in 55 minutes - Noida Sector 16 - Tilak Nagar on the metro.

Last year when the metro entered Noida, it brought relief for many people working here. A relief from hours of waiting at the bus stops or fighting with the autowallahs, who did not have permit to enter Noida and therefore felt it was their righht to charge whatever they felt like.

A clean, punctual and efficient public transport, Delhi Metro changed the way Delhiites looked at commutation options in the city. Their dependence on it too increased. And this is quite evident from the rush one can see at the metro parking lots, where people leave their vehicles and board the train to reach their destinations. It is also because one could be sure about the time it will take to cover a particular distance.

But not any more. The repeated technical breakdowns has been causing hardship to people who rely on it for commuting in the NCR daily. The Metro train stops for longer-than-normal time at a particular station or runs with a very slow speed. And because it does not reach the station in time, further delay occur because of huge rush. The situation is worse in the general compartment.

In fact, it has become like the traffic on road, you are not very sure of when you encounter. If it rains, the metro stops and now the regular technical glitches.

Delhi metro has been the pride of the city. But today it is losing its credibility as a reliable public transport system. It is high time a major step is taken to ensure hurdle free ride soon before it loses the confidence people developed in the public transport system.