Samastipur, Jan 2: Serious flaws in the newly implemented automatic signalling system on the Samastipur–Barauni rail section surfaced on Thursday after a passenger train took nearly two-and-a-half hours to cover a distance of just nine kilometres, triggering protests by angry passengers.
The Samastipur–Katihar passenger train (63308), which departed Samastipur at 12:55 pm and was scheduled to reach Ujiarpur by 1:05 pm, reached the station only at 3:38 pm.
The train was forced to halt repeatedly at six automatic signals between Samastipur and Ujiarpur, leaving passengers stranded for hours.
Passengers alleged that the automatic signalling system, introduced to improve efficiency and safety, has instead become a daily source of harassment.
They claimed trains are being stopped one after another without proper coordination, resulting in multiple rakes getting trapped between signals, while passengers are left without any clear information.
As frustration mounted, passengers staged a protest at the outer signal between Samastipur and Ujiarpur and reportedly confronted the train driver.
The driver contacted the railway control rooms at Samastipur and Sonpur, where he was informed that the line ahead was congested and that Ujiarpur station was not clear.
A similar situation was reported on the New Delhi–Barauni special train (02564), where passengers also protested and clashed with the train crew due to prolonged delays.
According to passengers, the disruption was not an isolated incident. Trains on both up and down lines frequently get stuck for hours on the section.
On Thursday alone, at least six trains—including three freight trains, the Katihar passenger, the New Delhi–Barauni Clone Express and the Garib Rath Express—were stranded on the same stretch, causing widespread inconvenience.
The recurring delays have raised questions over the preparedness of the Railways before commissioning the automatic signalling system.
Passengers pointed to poor traffic management, lack of real-time coordination and absence of timely communication as key issues that have turned a system meant to enhance operations into a major bottleneck.
Samastipur Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Jyoti Prakash Mishra said the issue falls under the jurisdiction of the Sonpur railway division and that the matter has been taken up for corrective action.
While he claimed that problems on the up line have been addressed, passengers said delays continue to disrupt daily travel, indicating that ground-level issues remain unresolved.
