Patna, Feb. 15: A woman and her 10-year-old daughter spent last night on a platform of Patna Junction as her train was cancelled while railway officers slept in the rest room.

The passenger, Anita Kumar, said: “My train (North East Express) was supposed to depart at 10.20pm yesterday but it did not arrive till afternoon today. I am travelling with my 10-year-old daughter. We spent the whole night at the station. When I tried to go to the rest room last night, the railway employees told me that the officers, who have come to Patna for route relay interlocking (RRI) system work, occupied it. Are the rest rooms not meant for us anymore?”

She added: “The system over here is really pathetic.”

Her train finally reached Patna Junction at 4.30pm today.

Anita was not the only one facing trouble. In the past 10 days, more than 70 trains have been cancelled and 100 diverted. Railway authorities accepted that problems in the RRI work were the cause of the all the trouble.

As many as 20 trains from Patna Junction were cancelled today. Hundreds of passengers were stranded without any information. They claimed that they had to run from pillar to post to learn about the status of their trains. The passengers also said they were provided with wrong information in many cases.

Asked about the problems, Danapur divisional railway manager L.M. Jha told The Telegraph: “It is the failure of the system in the railways. We did not expect to face such technical problems after the RRI work was done.”

He added: “In the course of the RRI work, we connect the tracks while interlocking them. This is done by pouring melted iron between two tracks. At some places this has not been done properly. If trains are allowed to run on faulty tracks, mishaps may occur. So we have been forced to cancel or divert a number of trains.”

The RRI work started on February 7. It was supposed to be complete by February 12.

The senior officer said: “We are hopeful that the problem would be sorted out in two days.”

Jha also requested the passengers to be patient. “I know that the enquiry counters are overcrowded and passengers are angry. But they should have some patience. We are trying to do everything to help them out. The rest rooms, occupied at present by railways officers, would be vacated tomorrow.”

Irked passengers were in no mood to listen, though. “The railways had earlier announced that the work would be completed by February 12 and passengers would face no more problems thereafter. But the trouble continues to persist. This is really disappointing,” said Chhapra resident Vivek Alok Kumar, another troubled passenger.

“How will I get to know that my train has been cancelled if the railway does not inform me? Will I learn of it in my dreams?” asked Kishore Kumar, who was waiting for Patna-Howrah Garib Rath Express.

He added: “I have been running from one counter to another to get information about my train. No one was able to tell me anything. What kind of people has the railway recruited? They are good for nothing and should be sacked. I had to call up a friend of mine, who works in a Hindi newspaper, to know if my train has been cancelled.”

The fuming passenger also had a piece of advice for the authorities. “Instead of showing Bhojpuri songs on the TVs at the platforms, why can’t they telecast information about trains? That would be beneficial to passengers.”