A team of railway officials, including two members of the Railway Board, visited Kavi Subhash (New Garia) Metro station of the north-south corridor (Blue Line) on Thursday.

Passenger services to Kavi Subhash were indefinitely suspended on Monday afternoon after cracks were detected in four columns of the Up platform meant for Dakshineswar-bound trains. The platform itself has been sinking, the carrier has said. The recent spells of heavy rain accelerated the damage that has been blamed on “flawed design”.

The inspection team, comprising Sanjeev Kumar Garg, executive director (station development), Railway Board, and S.C. Jain, additional member (land and amenities), reached the station around noon and spent over an hour there. They were accompanied by Anuj Mittal, principal chief engineer, Metro Railway.

The entire Up platform will be demolished and rebuilt, along with the columns atop that have cracks. A contractor will be hired on the basis of a tender. For now, the roof is being dismantled. The carrier has already deployed workers to remove the roof panels.

“The board members inspected various parts of the station. They gave some guidelines for the work ahead,” said a Metro official.

The instability of the platform and the columns were first detected over 10 years ago. An official said that the problems were being monitored and an extensive overhaul was already planned after Durga Puja. Incessant rainfall over the past several days accelerated the damage.

On Thursday, an RPF (Railway Protection Force) officer was seen informing stranded passengers at Kavi Subhash about the temporary suspension of services, advising them to travel to Shahid Khudiram (Dhalai bridge) to board trains.

Kavi Subhash, the southern terminal station of the Blue Line, shares the compound with the New Garia suburban railway station. It was one of the busiest stations of the corridor.

Now, the next station, Shahid Khudiram (Dhalai Bridge), is serving as the terminal station on the south.

On Thursday, many commuters were forced to take longer routes to reach their destinations, as most of them were unaware that passenger services from Kavi Subhash had been suspended.

Pran Krishna Mondal, 41, a resident of Burdwan who came to New Garia to visit his brother last week, said he had no idea about the closure.

“I am not a regular commuter here. I came to visit my brother and was surprised to find the station shut,” he said.

Mondal said he had planned to board a Metro from New Garia to Esplanade to board a bus back to Burdwan. “Now I have to take a local train to Sealdah, and from there I will head to Esplanade. It’s a much longer route now,” he added.