An express train left Sealdah 15 hours late on a day the railway minister kept showering bounties on Bengal.

The 2987 Sealdah Ajmer Express that was scheduled to leave Sealdah at 11.20pm on Thursday left around 2pm on Friday.

Most of the passengers spent the night at the station, some checked into nearby hotels while a few went back home and returned early in the morning only to wait almost through the day for the train to leave.

The railway authorities blamed the delayed departure on the late arrival of the corresponding Down train.

“The train from Ajmer arrived at 9.30am on Friday instead of 3.55pm on Thursday,” said an Eastern Railway official.

The train went to the car shed after the passengers got off and returned to the station around 11am to start its journey for Ajmer.

Passengers who boarded the train, however, complained that the coaches were dirty, prompting the authorities to start a clean-up that continued for close to three hours. The rules state that a train should be cleaned and checked for faults at the car shed, before it arrives at the station.

Durga and Jyotirmoy Sarkar, along with their nine-year-old daughter Joyita, arrived at the city from Gangarampur in South Dinajpur to take the Ajmer Express.

“We boarded the Kanchenjunga Express at Malda and reached Sealdah late in the evening but learnt that the Ajmer Express would leave only at 9am on Friday,” recalled Jyotirmoy, an executive at Hindustan Zinc Ltd at Bilara in Rajasthan.

The Sarkars checked into a hotel near the station and returned at 8 in the morning only to learn that the Down train had not yet arrived.

“I was on leave and had to join office by Saturday. Thanks to the delay, I won’t be able to rejoin before Monday,” Sarkar fumed, sitting in an AC three-tier coach.

K.P. Jalan, another harassed passenger, said the railway minister should focus on punctuality along with announcing one mega measure after another.