Metro to restart Tollygunge carshed to improve services in Blue Line
The Statesman | 5 September 2025In July, Kavi Subhash Metro station was closed to the public after few cracks were observed in some columns on the up platform of Metro station. After the closure, train services are being operated till Shahid Khudiram station and empty rakes are being brought to the down platform of Kavi Subhash station for reversal and placed in the up platform of Shahid Khudiram station. According to the city Metro office, the process has increased the rake reversal time substantially. To address the requirement of peak hours, the Metro railway authorities are short-terminating the down trains at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station to reverse the rake in the up line towards Dakshineshwar.
Following the process, neither the up train from Kavi Nazrul nor the down train from Rabindra Sarobar can be received at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. As informed by the city Metro office, the step meant for safety is creating further congestion in the system while difficulties in closing the doors of rakes are making a cascading effect to create further congestion.
The Metro railway has adopted a few steps to address the issue. The Yellow Line services from Airport to Noapara has been separated from Blue Line services between Noapara to Shahid Khudiram so that the Blue Line gets insulated from Yellow Line’s services similar to the way the Green Line and Blue Line services are physically separated and insulated from cascading effect of one another.
In order to ease the congestion, three rakes would be placed at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar with another three at Noapara station much before the commencement of commercial services. Apart from this, the authorities have also decided to re-operate Tollygunge carshed to improve the Metro train operations. As learnt from the Metro railway office, the arrangement is expected to be ready before the beginning of the festival season.
Meanwhile, the city metro authorities have decided to withdraw the Special Experimental Night Metro Services in the Blue Line that were being run at 10.40 p.m. for late evening commuters.
The Kolkata Metro Railway has now announced the suspension of the special service. Citing ‘operational constraints and maintenance related issues’ the city Metro has withdrawn the revenue service that was meant particularly for office goers heading home during late evening hours.
