The special night Metro trains on the north-south corridor or the Blue Line have been suspended until further notice, the carrier announced on Tuesday.
Metro Railway also announced additional steps to ease the crowd pressure it has been facing since cracks in platform pillars forced the suspension of commercial services in Kavi Subhash (New Garia), the southern terminal.
A revised timetable is also being finalised, sources said.
The suspension of the night trains is necessary for power blocks after daily commercial operations. The blocks are needed to expedite the construction of a reversal point — for trains to switch tracks — at Shahid Khudiram (Briji) station, a Metro official said.
Shahid Khudiram has been functioning as the southern terminal for the Blue Line since July 28, when New Garia was excluded from the Blue Line network.
The suspension of New Garia station and the commissioning of three new Metro links, particularly the full East-West link, have disrupted the Blue Line’s schedule.
A New Garia-bound train is now taking three to six minutes additional time to turn towards Dakshineswar, the northern terminal. That is causing a pile-up between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) and Shahid Khudiram, which is having a cascading effect on the entire Blue Line.
On Monday, the carrier ferried more than eight lakh passengers. The Blue Line saw just under six lakh and the Green Line just over two lakh.
“On account of suspension of Kavi Subhash station and due to operational constraints and maintenance-related issues, it will not be possible to operate the special experimental night Metro Services at 10.40pm from Dum Dum and Shahid Khudiram stations in Blue Line with effect from September 3,” said the Metro spokesperson.
Before the 10.40pm trains, the penultimate trains leave the terminal stations around 9.45pm.
The night trains were introduced on May 24 last year. Initially, the trains left the terminal stations at 11pm. From June 24 last year, the time was brought forward to 10.40pm. From January 1 this year, the carrier imposed a surcharge of ₹10 on every ride on a night train.
More tweaks
Some of the other steps announced on Tuesday are:
- Separation of the trains used for the Yellow Line (Noapara-Jai Hind Bimanbandar) and the Blue Line. From July 25, when commercial services began on the Yellow Line, some trains from Shahid Khudiram reached Noapara and then went towards Jai Hind. Similarly, some trains from Jai Hind reached Noapara and then proceeded towards Shahid Khudiram. From Wednesday, that will be stopped.
- The carrier has gone back to 262 trains every weekday, down from 284 trains that were being run after the commissioning of the new lines. Sources said the dip was to scale down the effects of a pile-up between Tollygunge and Shahid Khudiram.
- To ease the congestion, three rakes will be placed at Tollygunge and three more rakes at Noapara station before the commencement of commercial services. Now, some of the trains are switching direction at Tollygunge station, which was once the southern terminal and has a provision for rake reversal. That has also caused problems because many passengers are refusing to get off at Tollygunge.