CHENNAI: Furious that the air conditioner in their coach was not working, the passengers in a second AC coach of Cheran Express pulled the emergency chain and stopped the train, which was ready to depart from MGR Chennai Central railway station at 10 pm on Monday.

The staff allegedly failed to take any action to rectify the issue despite being informed about it. This led to rise in temperature and suffocation inside the coach and tempers among the passengers. Some of them pulled the emergency chain in protest, forcing senior officials to respond immediately.

The officials engaged with the angry passengers and immediately deployed technical staff to repair the AC. After the fault was addressed, the train departed for Coimbatore at 10.55 pm, nearly an hour behind schedule.