The repair job at Kavi Subhash (New Garia) Metro station of the Blue Line will be taken up “as soon as possible” once Chhath Puja celebrations are over, Subhransu Sekhar Mishra, the new general manager of Metro Railway, said on Friday.

Chhath will be celebrated on Monday and Tuesday.

Before the work starts at New Garia, a rake-reversal point at Shahid Khudiram (Briji) station will be installed. The work, expected to take a couple of days, will likely be on a weekend, Mishra said.

“We thought of doing the New Garia work after Diwali, but it was held up because of the Chhath festival,” Mishra said at Esplanade station of the Green Line, where Metro Railway celebrated its 41st Foundation Day on Friday.

“We will take up the work as soon as possible once the festival is over. Before the work at New Garia begins, a rake reversal point would be set up at Shahid Khudiram. It will take two to three days. A traffic block will be needed. It will most likely happen on a weekend,” Mishra told this newspaper later.

Metro sources said some curbs on the daily services were imminent once the work began. A traffic block will be needed. The plan is to run trains between Dakshineswar and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) on a Sunday. The services between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Shahid Khudiram may be suspended, the sources said.

The Blue Line has been put under pressure following the suspension of commercial services at the New Garia station — the southern terminal — because of cracks in platform pillars from July 28.

The platform meant for Dakshineswar-bound trains will be demolished and rebuilt. The contract has already been awarded, said officials.

Since July 29, Shahid Khudiram has been serving as the southern terminus of the corridor. But it lacks the infrastructure commensurate with a terminal station — a rake-reversal point being one of them.

An empty train is still switching tracks at New Garia, and it is taking more than five additional minutes to make the switch. The longer turnaround time that a train now needs to switch tracks after crossing Shahid Khudiram is having a cascading effect on the entire corridor, causing delays and overcrowding.

Part of the problem will be addressed once the new reversal point is ready, said Metro officials.

Nod to links

A total of 57km of new Metro lines have been sanctioned by the Railway Board, Mishra said on Friday.

Work is already underway on 29km of the sanctioned length, he added.

“If things go according to plan, the entire Orange Line will be ready by December 2026,” he said.

The Orange Line is now functional between Kavi Subhash and Beleghata.

“By December 2029, the Purple Line should also reach Esplanade and the Yellow Line should reach Michael Nagar,” Mishra said.

The Purple Line now connects Joka and Majerhat, and the Yellow Line links Noapara and Jai Hind (airport) stations.