One in nine Metro trains will switch tracks from Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) station on the north-south corridor or the Blue Line, an official said on Thursday.

The Blue Line has been put under tremendous pressure following the closure of the New Garia station, the southern terminal. The longer turnaround time that a train now needs to switch tracks after crossing Shahid Khudiram (Briji), the new southern terminal, is having a cascading effect on the entire link, causing delays and overcrowding.

A greater passenger load following the commissioning of the full East-West Metro corridor or the Green Line has compounded the problem. The Blue Line meets the Green Line at Esplanade.

On Thursday, a train got stuck while switching tracks near the New Garia station. It led to the suspension of train services between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Shahid Khudiram for close to an hour from noon.

Trains ran between Tollygunge and Dakshineswar, the northern terminal, during that period. Full services resumed at 12.53pm.

The last disruption happened on Wednesday.

The carrier is reviving the car shed at Tollygunge to ease the rush. Before July 28, when commercial services at New Garia were suspended, Metro depended on two car sheds and maintenance yards for the Blue Line — at Noapara and New Garia.

The closure of New Garia station has made the car shed inaccessible for all practical purposes.

The Tollygunge shed, which an official said would be capable of handling 7 to 8 rakes once upgraded, would offset some problems.

On Thursday, Hitendra Malhotra, member (operations and business development), Railway Board, visited Kavi Subhash, Shahid Khudiram, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Esplanade Metro stations and “reviewed the action plan”.

The carrier has devised a series of steps to ease the rush and fix the number of trains that will switch tracks at Tollygunge. Tollygunge was the southern terminal of the Blue Line and had ample provision for trains to switch tracks. Shahid Khudiram, not designed as a terminal station, does not have any. A rake-reversal point is being set up at the station, but it will take some time.

“All trains cannot be operated up to Shahid Khudiram station due to operational issues. Due to this, 32 services out of 272 services are planned to return from Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station to Dakshineswar. This will be crucial to maintain the headway of five minutes between two trains during peak hours and seven minutes during non-peak hours,” said the spokesperson.

“Passengers are requested to cooperate. At present, commuters are resisting vacating the trains at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station during peak hours, which adversely affects the services,” the spokesperson added.