The Sealdah-bound Rajdhani Express arrived in the city five hours late on Thursday following a snag in the engine that developed shortly after the train left Delhi but was detected after it travelled 1,400km.

The train had to be stopped at Gangpur station in Burdwan, around 90km from Sealdah, after a part on the engine’s front came loose.

Many passengers alleged that they were not served food after breakfast though the train reached Sealdah well after lunchtime. Railway officials denied the charge.

The officials said the train had hit a nilgai after crossing Dankaur station near Ghaziabad, in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday night. The train’s cowcatcher — an iron net fitted at the base of the engine — got damaged under the impact.

The train then ran around 1,400km without a hitch till it reached Gangpur on the Howrah-Burdwan chord line section, where the driver faced problems negotiating an upward slope as a part of the cowcatcher was hanging.

“The snag could be detected because of the upward slope of the tracks at Gangpur. It went unnoticed at the several stations the train stopped after hitting the animal,” said a railway official.

The Rajdhani Express was halted at Gangpur — not a scheduled stop for the train — at 12.10 pm. After being stranded there for more than an hour, it was brought to Shaktigarh where the engine was replaced.

The train resumed its journey around 1pm and reached Sealdah at 2.50pm, against the scheduled arrival time of 10.15am. Three long-distance trains and as many local trains were detained for about 20 minutes each on an average because of the disruption.

Many passengers alleged that they were not provided food after breakfast despite the “inordinate delay”.

A. Banerjee, a passenger, said: “We were served only a cup of tea after breakfast though the train arrived at Sealdah in the afternoon. They should have served us lunch.”

Officials pleaded helplessness, saying the problem was detected after the train had crossed Dhanbad, where the railways has a base kitchen. “We could not load lunch packets as there is no other base kitchen between Dhanbad and Calcutta. Omelette and some snacks that were available on the train were served to passengers,” said an official.