The Lucknow Metro was stopped because of a technical glitch for nearly an hour on the day of its debut run for the public, triggering panic among nearly 500 passengers, The Times of India reported. The Lucknow Metro Rail service had been inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.

The metro temporarily stopped near Alambagh station, ANI reported. The rescue team took more than 20 minutes to reach the spot. The 8.5-km corridor runs between Transport Nagar and Charbagh from 6 am to 10 pm.

Passengers were evacuated on to the tracks after they complained of suffocation, high temperatures and no air conditioning. The other trains were running normally on a parallel track.

Speaking at the inauguration of the metro service on Tuesday, Rajnath Singh, who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha, had said that the metro rail had opened doors to infrastructure development in the city. “Lucknow will now be known as the city of metro rail,” he had said. Singh had dedicated the project to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.