Kolkata, May 15 -- Metro Railway will suspend Blue Line services between Sahid Khudiram (Briji) and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) stations on Sunday to facilitate a new rake reversal facility at Sahid Khudiram ahead of the rehabilitation of Kavi Subhash (New Garia) Metro Station.
Services will operate only between Dakshineswar and Tollygunge on Sunday. Normal services between Dakshineswar and Sahid Khudiram will resume on Monday, May 18, Metro Railway said in a statement.
The work is part of the long-pending rehabilitation of Kavi Subhash, the original southern terminal of the Blue Line, where passenger services have remained suspended since July 28 after cracks were detected in several supporting piers.
Although passenger services currently terminate at Sahid Khudiram, trains continue to run empty to Kavi Subhash for reversal before returning northbound.
S.S. Kannan, Chief Public Relations Officer of Metro Railway, said the absence of a reversal facility at Sahid Khudiram had delayed the start of work at Kavi Subhash.
"Although passenger services were terminated at Shahid Khudiram, empty rakes still had to be taken to Kavi Subhash for reversal every day. We could not begin the rehabilitation work earlier," Kannan said.
He said Metro Railway had planned to begin the work last September, but the schedule was deferred because of examinations, the festival season and elections. "We wanted to ensure minimum inconvenience to passengers. Now it is a lean period and schools are closed, so we are taking up the rehabilitation work," he said.
Metro Railway expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and appealed for cooperation.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.