The tracks are ready but the trains are not, leaving Calcutta’s transport lifeline staring at a massive traffic overload in the run-up to Durga puja if the Kavi Nazrul-New Garia stretch is opened without extra rakes.

“Availability of rakes is crucial to smooth operations and we are still waiting for the new coaches to arrive. We have postponed the proposed June launch of the last stretch of the north-south Metro connection but we will open it before puja,” principal chief engineer Neeraj Kumar told Metro.

The original plan was to open the 2.9-km stretch along with the Tollygunge-Garia Bazar (Kavi Nazrul) section last year but litigation over land forced the authorities to revise the deadline to June 31. A new date hasn’t been fixed but officials hope to start services from New Garia after two additional rakes — both air-conditioned — arrive from the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur in Tamil Nadu.

Metro Railway is yet to receive even one of the 13 air-conditioned rakes being manufactured at Perambur. The first of the lot is expected to roll out of the factory by the end of this month but it won’t join the fleet until mid-July because experts have to first certify it fit for the tracks.

The second rake could be ready by puja, though officials doubt whether only two additional trains would be enough to cope with passenger pressure in the festive weeks.

According to an internal assessment, passenger load would increase by over a lakh commuters every day once Metro services are extended to New Garia. Metro Railway’s ageing fleet won’t be able to handle the increased traffic if new rakes aren’t added, say officials.

“After the launch of operations between Tollygunge and Kavi Nazrul last August, there was a sudden increase in traffic and we did not have extra rakes to handle the load. We want to ensure commuters don’t suffer again,” a senior official said.

Metro Railway has been ferrying nearly five lakh commuters every day with only 15 rakes. “We have 18 rakes but two of these have been sent for a complete overhaul. Another rake is undergoing repairs after being damaged when it hit the buffer at Shahid Khudiram station on May 16,” an official said.

With three of the 18 rakes out of service, Metro Railway is finding it difficult to maintain its daily schedule even now. Of the 18 existing rakes, 11 are to be phased out while the remaining seven will be upgraded to air-conditioned coaches.

TRACK RECORD

● Length of last stretch: 2.9km

● Stations on the route: Kavi Nazrul, Briji (Shahid Khudiram) and New Garia

● Estimated passenger increase: One lakh

●Sanctioned rakes: 13, all air-conditioned

●Rakes expected by puja: 2