Kolkata, 13 January (H.S.): Thousands of commuters faced major inconvenience on Tuesday morning after a sudden technical disruption affected Kolkata Metro services. From shortly after 7:00 am, metro operations between Central and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar stations remained completely suspended for nearly 45 minutes. During this period, trains operated on diverted routes, running between Dakshineswar and Central, and between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Shahid Khudiram stations.

Services between Dakshineswar and Maidan were partially restored around 8:00 am, but normal operations along the entire route could not be resumed immediately. As a result, the Blue Line (Dakshineswar–Shahid Khudiram) continued to function only on a fragmented basis for several hours.

The Metro Railway authorities have not issued any official statement explaining the cause of the disruption so far. Announcements at stations merely cited “unavoidable reasons” for the suspension of through services, without specifying the exact nature of the problem.

According to sources, a metro train became stranded inside the tunnel between Netaji Bhavan and Rabindra Sadan stations, triggering the disruption. However, metro officials have yet to formally confirm this information.

The disruption during peak morning hours caused maximum hardship to office-goers. The Blue Line is regarded as one of Kolkata’s busiest and most vital metro corridors, catering to a large number of daily commuters.

Expressing frustration, Barrackpore resident Soumen Das, who commutes daily from Dum Dum to his office at Esplanade, said, “We choose the metro to save time. But if such disruptions happen frequently, what is the point? The network keeps expanding, but services are not running on time.”

Several passengers learned about the disruption only after reaching Dum Dum station, prompting some to return to local trains bound for Sealdah. Others traveled up to Central station and switched to buses or other alternative modes of transport to reach their destinations.

Virati resident Basanta Chattopadhyay alleged that despite having the ‘Amar Kolkata Metro’ mobile application, he did not receive timely updates. “I came to know about the disruption only while purchasing the ticket. The app was updated much later,” he complained.

Frequent service disruptions have increasingly drawn criticism from commuters, who are demanding permanent technical solutions as well as a more transparent and real-time information system. A metro official later stated that normal services were fully restored by around 9:00 am.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh