Kolkata Metro Railway urges commuters to cooperate in running services

Kolkata, Sep 11 (PTI) Amid rising complaints from commuters over irregular frequency and short-termination of trains on the Blue Line (Dakshineswar–Shahid Khudiram), Kolkata Metro on Thursday urged passengers to cooperate with authorities, especially during peak hours.

In a statement, Metro said not all trains could be run across the full stretch of the corridor, owing to operational constraints following the closure of Kavi Subhash station (New Garia), the original terminal, over a month ago.

Metro said of the 272 services, 32 will be run between Dakshineswar and Tollygunge instead of the entire stretch connecting the northern and southern parts of the city.

Citing the closure of Kavi Subhash (New Garia) station, the original terminal station of the stretch, around one-and-a-half-months back, the statement said all trains cannot be operated up to the present terminal station Shahid Khudiram (Birji), and few are to be short terminated at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) due to operational issues.

"Due to the unfortunate closure of Kavi Subhas station, 32 services out of 272 services are planned to return from Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station towards the direction of Dakshineswar during peak and non-peak hours to maintain the headway of five minutes between two trains during peak hours and seven minutes during non-peak hours," the statement said.

"Passengers are requested to cooperate so that Metro can run smoothly. At present, commuters are resisting to vacate the trains at Mahanayak Uttam Kumar station during peak hours which causes cumulative effect and adversely affects the services," the Metro said.

"Metro Railway also reviews the plan to operate train services on revival of the Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Shed and setting up of a rake reversal facility at Shahid Khudiram and restoration of Kavi Subhash stations. Metro Railway is analysing each incident thoroughly and working towards improvement. It is assured that improvement will be visible," the statement added.

The statement comes in the backdrop of growing resentment about disruption in services and short termination of trains in the Blue Line among commuters, particularly during peak hours in the morning and evening and social media posts by daily commuters.

Member (Operations & Business Development ), M (O&BD ) Railway Board, New Delhi, Hitendra Malhotra, visited Kavi Subhash, Shahid Khudiram, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Esplanade Metro stations during the day and reviewed the action plan for addressing the crowd management.

Malhotra reviewed crowd management strategies in view of surging passenger numbers and the festive season rush, particularly as Esplanade has emerged as a crucial interchange for Green Line services. PTI SUS MNB