Danapur divisional railway manager LM Jha addresses the news conference in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Feb. 20: Danapur divisional railway manager L.M. Jha today stooped to appease the railway commuters cut up over the cancellation of trains for several days because of the glitches in the route relay interlocking (RRI) system. He officially apologised to passengers for the inconvenience.

“I just want to apologise to the passengers and all those people who faced inconvenience during the RRI work. I also want to inform them that the RRI work has been completed. The passengers will no more face any trouble, as train movement has become normal now,” Jha told reporters at Patna Junction.

Rs 18 crore was spent on the RRI work.

On the railway’s failure to inform passengers beforehand on cancellation of trains in a bulk, the DRM said: “I want to apologise to the passengers for that also because we were not in a position to make the announcement well in advance. I admit that we should have informed the commuters in advance. Frankly speaking, we never expected such a technical problem would occur during the interlocking work.”

Talking about the operation of trains, Jha said: “A little bit of work has to be done to make the RRI system operational. But that will not affect the operation of trains because all the major works have been completed now.”

The DRM said: “I can understand the problem of the passengers they faced because of the cancellation of trains. I am thankful to the media for reporting on the situation of the railway on a regular basis.”

More than 70 trains were cancelled and 100 diverted because of problems in the RRI work, which started on February 7. It was supposed to be complete by February 12 but technical glitches delayed the work and schedules of trains at Patna Junction went haywire.

Holi preparation

With the Holi festival around the corner, Jha said the railway would initiate all necessary steps to ensure safety of passengers.

“Before and after the festival, the crime on wheels increases. We will soon issue alerts to the passengers,” the DRM said.

To manage the festival rush, extra coaches would be attached to the trains.

“Additional coaches will be added so that the passengers do not face any problem in getting reserved tickets,” the DRM said.