"After that it takes another 20 minutes for the check out and naturally an air passenger cannot board the train. People could have availed the train had the authorities been careful in fixing the time schedule," Bharati said.

To compound the matters worse for the air passengers, the second and last train of the day is scheduled at 9.30 pm.

"This is ridiculous. Unless the railway authority increases the number of trains, the situation will not improve," general secretary, Airport Authority Employees Union, Dipankar Ghosh said.

Besides, the station is located in a "far away" place from the domestic and international terminal forcing passengers to walk for at least 10 minutes before climbing stairs to reach a 300-metre high platform, he said.

"The passengers, with their huge luggage, will certainly be reluctant to trudge the way and instead, they opt for a taxi," he said.

"The average sale of tickets is not more than 20 and these passengers come from nearby Kamalpur and Arai areas and go to Sealdah for their work," station manager Pinaki Ghosh said.