Patna, Feb. 16: Frenchman Fremont Christ had come to see Incredible India. He got its “first taste” at Patna Junction — an invalid train ticket.

Much has changed in Bihar, which will showcase its development and growth at the Global Summit that begins tomorrow.

Much hasn’t changed also. As the visitor from France experienced.

Christ today booked a ticket on the Patna-Calcutta Garib Rath Express for tomorrow from a counter at Patna Junction. The problem: the train was cancelled yesterday.

The tourist was having a cup of tea at platform no. 1 when The Telegraph asked him about his travel plans. “I had come to visit places like Bodhgaya, Rajgir and Nalanda. Now, I shall go to Bengal. I have a train to Calcutta tomorrow. I booked the ticket today,” he said.

When he was informed about the cancellation of the train, he just smiled and said: “You must be joking. If the train is cancelled why would the person at the counter issue the ticket to me?”

Christ refused to believe that he had been sold a ticket for a cancelled train till he was shown the official list released by East Central Railway.

Then, he said: “The system here is unbelievable. How will I reach Calcutta now? Is there any other train that I can take?”

He had to first cancel his ticket and then book another on the Danapur-Howrah Express, which would depart from Rajendra Nagar tomorrow.

Christ was not the only passenger in the quandary though. In the past 11 days, more than 90 trains have been cancelled and 100 diverted because of problems in the route relay interlocking work. The work started on February 7 and was supposed to be complete by February 12. But technical glitches have thrown the schedules of trains at Patna Junction off track. Around 17 trains were cancelled today and 19 others were diverted.

Informed about the problem Christ had faced, Danapur divisional railway manager L.M. Jha said: “I will request you to kindly track that man so I can tell the official concerned to provide him all possible help. He will also get a full refund of his fare. Any person who has booked a ticket on a cancelled train will get full refund. We do not want to charge them anything if the train has been cancelled.”

Asked if some official could be deputed to inform the passengers about the cancelled or diverted trains, Jha said: “It is not possible. We have an enquiry counter and announcement system at the station. As you know, the trains were cancelled at the last minute. So, some railway employees are also unaware of the cancellations.”