Train services were affected for more than four hours due to a traffic-cum-power block at Tatanagar station on Sunday.

The railway block, for launching of the new foot overbridge gallery, began at 11am and continued till 4.30pm. During the period, movement of trains was restricted on platform numbers 3, 4 and 5.

Three passenger trains — 58662/58661 Hatia-Tatanagar Passenger, 58024/58023 Barkanaka-Tatanagar Passenger and 58032/58031 Tatanagar-Chakulia Passenger — were cancelled, spelling inconvenience for people.

Several passengers who were not aware of the railway block had to return from the station. Passengers also faced delays as some of the mail and express trains which had to wait in the outer signals for a long time before getting clearances to arrive on platform numbers 1 or 2 during the period of the block.

Some of the trains had to be short-terminated. The 58114/58113 Bilaspur-Tatanagar Passenger was short- terminated at Chakradharpur. The services of the train between Chakradharpur and Tatanagar remained cancelled. The Tatanagar-Barbil Passenger was short-terminated at Chaibasa railway station in West Singhbhum. Hence, the services between Chaibasa and Tatanagar remained cancelled. The Tatanagar-Asansol Express was short terminated at Chandil. The services of the train between Chandil and Tatanagar therefore remained cancelled.

Manish Pathak, spokesperson of South Eastern Railway’s Chakradharpur division, said another similar block will be undertaken next month to complete the rest of the work. “We are making efforts to make the new foot overbridge operational in another one month or so,” he said.

The Tatanagar station currently has a single foot overbridge, which is overburdened. The new overbridge at the Chakradharpur end of the station would ease the load on the existing overbridge.