Patna, Feb. 19: Haryana resident Kanchan Mala was relieved to board the Sampoorna Kranti Express from Patna Junction today after delaying her travel plans by two days because of the cancellation of trains over the past two weeks.

Mala was supposed to take the Jan Shatabdi Express on February 17. But the train was cancelled because of the route-relay interlocking (RRI) work at Patna Junction.

“I did not get any train for the past couple of days as many were cancelled. I was forced to stay in Patna for two extra days. My friend here advised me to take a train only after February 18, when the service was supposed to be restored. Thankfully, most of the trains are on schedule today and I can travel peacefully,” Mala said.

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.

Today, most trains were on time, and none was cancelled.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, who was waiting for Dadar-Guwahati Express, said: “The past few days were a nightmare for me, as most trains towards Guwahati were cancelled. I was scared that I would face the same problem today. But thank God, my train is on time.”

He added: “This is how the train service should function. It should give minimum trouble to the passengers.”

Information about trains was also announced at regular intervals. For the past few days, this service also had gone off track. In fact, the situation at the station was so chaotic that a French tourist was sold a ticket on a cancelled train from the railway counter. The Telegraph reported the incident on February 17, 2012.

A railway employee at the enquiry counter told The Telegraph: “It is true that earlier we did not have correct information about the status of the trains. There was gap in communication between the senior officers and the junior employees. Now that the trains have been restored, everything is on track. You can see that the passengers are not worried about anything. They are getting the correct information.”

East Central Railway chief public relations officer Neeraj Ambastha told The Telegraph: “We announced earlier that the schedule of trains would be haywire till February 18. From today, the trains’ schedule has been restored. All trains from Patna Junction today are on time. Some trains that will pass through Patna could be late but none has been cancelled.”

Alok Kumar, a passenger, said: “Trains running on time is a boon for us.”

He added: “We had to face a lot of problems for the past two weeks. I hope from now, railway will keep in mind that passengers should not be affected because of their fault.”