Howrah-Hatia Kriya Yoga Express, popular with Ranchi residents travelling to Calcutta and back because of its convenient timings, is running late for the past two days, catching passengers unawares and prompting many to cancel tickets.

The daily train, which is supposed to leave Howrah in neighbouring Bengal at 10.10pm and reach Ranchi the next day at 7am, left over five hours late on Tuesday at 3.40am.

As a result, the train chugged into Ranchi at 12.50pm. Tuesday's train from Howrah will now leave at 4.45am on Wednesday. But the Down train from Hatia, however, was scheduled to leave at its usual time at 9.30pm on Tuesday.

Confirming the delay of the train from Howrah through a text message, Pallab Mukherjee, public relations officer of South Eastern Railways (SER), said it had been caused by late arrival of rakes.

"Some more South-bound trains from Howrah had to be rescheduled due to late arrival of rakes, which, in turn, delayed routine maintenance work on trains prior to their departure," he told The Telegraph over phone.

The South-bound trains that Mukherjee referred to were Howrah-Yesvantpur Express and Howrah-Chennai Mail.

Asked whether these trains would continue to run late for some days, he said, "It is too early to assume that the trains will run late for a longer period, but we will certainly keep passengers informed about rescheduling, if any."

Niraj Kumar, senior divisional commercial manager, Ranchi, explained that some rakes of East Coast Express (Hyderabad-Howrah Express) were to be attached to the Hatia train. "But the train arrived late, which created problem," he added.

I had no choice but to board the train at 3.45amAsked about his Monday night's experience, he said, "By now, I know that trains are rescheduled often. So I had called up Howrah station yesterday (Monday) and was told about the rescheduling. I went to the station around 3am. But there were many who spent the night at the station."

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