Ranchi, Feb 5 : Passengers on the New Delhi-Ranchi Garib Rath express, which witnessed a high voltage drama after it was 'hijacked' by a drunk driver, heaved a sigh of relief after the train safely reached Ranchi railway station Thursday.

The Garib Rath express left New Delhi on Wednesday evening for Ranchi on its first trip. The train service was flagged off from Ranchi last week.

As the train's drivers got down for refreshments near the Ghaziabad railway station, the driver of a goods train, who was drunk, stepped into the engine and drove off with the train.

The original drivers of the train raised an alarm and informed the railway authorities.

The speed of the 'hijacked' Garib Rath, under the drunk driver, kept varying and the passengers sensed something was wrong. Some passengers called up railway officials on their mobile phones.

The errant driver was arrested when the train reached Kanpur railway station.

The train finally arrived at Ranchi Thursday around 11.20 a.m. The passengers said they had had a harrowing night.

"Thank God, we finally reached our destination safely. We were scared when we got information of the train being hijacked by a drunk driver," said Rubina Khatoon, one of the passengers on the train.

Another passenger, Jitendra Singh said: "It was a big lapse on the railways' part. Railways should ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future. We cannot express our feelings how we spent the four to five hours between Ghaziabad and Kanpur railway stations."

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