KOLKATA: The city’s much-talked-about humane face took a beating on Thursday after Metro passengers refused to get off at the Kalighat station even after being told that a young man lay bleeding on the tracks below.RPF personnel had to be summoned to coax the passengers out before the train could be reversed into the tunnel and the man rescued.The incident occurred at 8.52am. A man, in his late twenties, jumped in front of a Dum Dum-bound train; the motorman applied brakes but the train stopped only after three coaches had entered the platform.“None of the passengers were ready to get off saying they would get delayed if they got off,” Metro Railway CPRO Indrani Banerjee said.“The evacuation procedure was started immediately. The motorman made repeated announcements over the public-address system on the train, urging passengers to move towards the front and get off using the door in his cabin. The doors of coaches could not be opened as most of the train was still inside the tunnel. However, none of the passengers was ready to get off. They said that they would get delayed for work,” Metro Railway CPRO Indrani Banerjee said.RPF personnel finally succeeded in getting passengers moving towards the motorman’s cabin but the process, officials felt, was taking too long and precious minutes were being lost. The motorman then manually opened two coach doors that were facing the platform. It was nearly 9.15 a.m. before the train could be vacated. Station staff then kept a watch on the man on the tracks and guided the motorman as he reversed the train into the tunnel.Only after the tracks were clear was power to the third line switched off and the man lifted onto the platform. It was 9.26 a.m. when he was put on a waiting ambulance and sent to SSKM Hospital, from where he was released after being administered first aid. Doctors said the delay in rescuing him could have proved fatal had his injuries been more serious.“Normal train services resumed at 9.38 a.m. after power to the third rail was switched on. Truncated services were maintained between Noapara and Maidan and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Kavi Subhash during the rescue operations. It wouldn’t have taken so long for the rescue process had the passengers cooperated a bit,” Banerjee added.

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