India, Sept. 25 -- For thousands of commuters rushing to work on Wednesday morning, the daily metro ride turned into an ordeal. A technical snag during a trial run on the yet-to-be-opened Metro 9 line (Dahisar East-Bhayandar) spilled over to Metro Line 7 (Dahisar East-Gundavali), crippling services for nearly five hours and stranding office-goers in the middle of rush hour.

The disruption began around 7.15 am when an operational issue cropped up between Dahisar East and Aarey. By 7.30am, the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd (MMMOCL) posted on X about a "temporary modification in operation," but for many commuters already queuing up at stations, clarity was hard to come by.

While trains between Andheri West and Dahisar East co...