India, Sept. 18 -- New Delhi

Public transportation in the Capital continued to be disrupted for a third consecutive day on Thursday, as a series of meetings among the transport department, private concessionaires and the protesting drivers failed to resolve the ongoing deadlock over wages and working conditions of contractual drivers employed by the concessionaires.

The additional pressure on the Metro prompted the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to continue to operate eight additional trains with increased frequency-continuing arrangements made a day earlier-while keeping another eight trains on standby for services between 8am and 8pm, depending on passenger footfall.

Delhi transport minister Pankaj Singh said, "We held a series ...