Kolkata Metro has announced a series of measures to address severe congestion on its network following the temporary suspension of services at Kavi Subhash Metro station.

The closure has caused operational challenges, leading to increased rake reversal times and cascading delays across the Blue Line.

Due to the station’s suspension, passengers are being detrained at Shahid Khudiram station while empty rakes are moved to Kavi Subhash down platform for reversal, before being placed on the up platform of Shahid Khudiram.

This has increased reversal time and led to delays. To meet peak-hour demand, a number of down trains are being short-terminated at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station to reverse on the up line towards Dakshineswar, officials said.

Neither the up train from Kavi Nazrul nor the down train from Rabindra Sarobar can be received at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station under this arrangement.

To tackle this situation, Yellow Line services between Airport and Noapara have been separated from Blue Line services between Noapara and Shahid Khudiram to insulate the Blue Line from disruptions on the Yellow Line, said officials.

The number of services on the Blue Line is being regulated to reduce operational pressure caused by the closure of Kavi Subhash.

Three rakes will be placed at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station and three more at Noapara station before the commencement of commercial services each day to help manage demand.

Metro has also decided to re-operate the Tollygunge car shed to strengthen train operations. This arrangement is expected to be ready before the festival season.

Technical arrangements required for these measures will be carried out during weekend non-commercial hours to avoid affecting weekday morning services.