The inauguration of Patliputra Junction was postponed for the fourth time on Thursday because residents of two villages, 1km away from the station, squatted on the tracks demanding repair of a road and construction of a foot overbridge.

The railway authorities had to shelve the plan of flagging off two special trains — to Yesvantpur and Chandigarh at — from Patliputra Junction at 12.25pm and 12.45pm, respectively. They started their journey from Danapur.

The passengers of the trains were transported from Patliputra Junction to Danapur in three buses. Purnea resident Vikas Kumar, who had come to the yet-to-be-inaugurated station to board Patliputra-Yeshwantpur special train, expressed his disappointment before boarding the bus.

“I thought I would be able to board a train to be flagged off by dignitaries from a new station. Had I been aware of the development (cancellation of the station’s inauguration), I would have gone directly to Danapur for boarding the train,” said Vikas.

Not just Vikas, several passengers were disappointed over the postponement of the inauguration of the station following the agitation of the Rupaspur and Jalalpur villagers demanding repair of the road parallel to the railway tracks. They also sought a foot overbridge where the road ends.

“Rupaspur and Jalalpur have a population of around 25,000 people. We have to take the rickety road everyday. You also must have disliked the bumpy ride while coming here,” said Bindeshwar Singh, a Rupaspur villager.

Senior divisional commercial manager of Danapur Arvind Rajak, present at the station, said: “I cannot tell the exact date, but Patliputra Junction would be functional very soon. Till then, people can book their tickets from the station but no train will run.”

Commissioner of Railway Safety had given green signal to run trains from Patliputra Junction last November. Initially, the new station was to be inaugurated in the last week of April. The second date of inauguration was August 15 and the third was September 6. The inauguration was postponed for the fourth time on Thursday.

A stage was erected in the parking lot of the station and decorated with marigold flowers for the inaugural function slated for 11am. Booking-cum-reservation and enquiry counters, parcel office, and station manager’s office were also decked up with flowers. But all the arrangements for the chief guest, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, went in vain. Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge and chief minister Nitish Kumar were also supposed to be present at the inaugural function of the third major station in the city after Patna Junction and Rajendra Nagar.