Metro Railway’s failure to rectify technical snags and lack of preparedness for a passenger surge following the inauguration of its extended route inconvenienced commuters for the third consecutive day.

Passengers were stranded at various stations for up to 30 minutes with trains being held up by signalling snags, delays in changing tracks at Shahid Khudiram (Birji) and shortage of rakes to cope with the rush.

“I had to wait half an hour at Shyambazar station in the afternoon to board a train to Kavi Nazrul (Garia Bazar). Passengers were almost hanging out of the doors, preventing them from closing. I could not get into two trains,” said 26-year-old Payel Mukherjee, a nurse at RG Kar Hospital.

The Metro authorities pressed two additional rakes into service in the evening but there was no respite from delays.

“Till Monday, we would operate 16 of the 18 available rakes. Two of the rakes are meant for emergencies. But we had to use all the rakes on Tuesday because of the rush,” said a senior official.

Monday’s passenger count was 5.33 lakh, up from the weekday average of 4.25 lakh.

The authorities announced on Tuesday that the last four trains leaving from Dum Dum would now terminate at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) instead of Kavi Nazrul as the car shed was located there.

“The last train from Dum Dum to travel till Kavi Nazrul will leave at 8.45pm. The last train from Kavi Nazrul to Dum Dum will leave at 9.21 pm,” said an official.

J.K.Mitra, the chief operating officer, admitted that the “birth pangs” being faced by Metro Railway since the inauguration of the extended route were proving to be more painful than he had anticipated.

“The signalling snags and problems in changing tracks at Shahid Khudiram prevailed on Tuesday. Our officials are on the job and we hope to resolve these issues by next week,” Mitra said.

Apart from a shortage of rakes, Metro Railway is facing a manpower crunch. Four stations have been added to the route — not counting Shahid Khudiram, to which only the trains go — but the number of booking clerks remains 325.

“We are making do with the staff who manned the 17 old stations,” an official said.

Commuters complained about problems while buying tickets and turnstiles not working at Masterda Surya Sen and Kavi Nazrul. Only two ticket counters were open at each of the four new stations.

A Metro official said the faulty turnstiles were not being replaced because the exit and entry system was set to change with the introduction of a “smart-token system”.

On whether the problems plaguing Metro would be solved before Puja, Mitra said: “We will most certainly do that but we need 70 additional personnel. Till then, we will work in double shifts so that commuters do not face any problems.”

Two new rakes are expected to arrive before Puja and 13 more, including air-conditioned ones, will join the fleet early next year.