Rat bites woman passenger in AC coach

CHENNAI: The railways appears to be losing the fight against pests and rodents on trains. A 64-year-old woman was bitten by a rat in an AC III-tier coach of the Coimbatore-Chennai Cheran Express at Arakkonam station early on Tuesday. As the train was moving, irate passengers pulled the chain and stopped it.
Meena Ramana, who was asleep, suffered a cut to a toe and screamed out. Passengers who rushed to her help kicked up a ruckus when the travelling ticket examiner said she could get treated when the train reached Chennai. As the train had already started to move, passengers pulled the chain.
"The incident happened after the train reached the station at 4.56am. We brought a doctor who was on duty at the station. She gave an injection to prevent infection and administered first aid," said a Railway Protection Force (RPF) official.
The train was further delayed when passengers demanded that the doctor issue a medical certificate saying the woman was bitten by a rat.
Pests and rodents have for long been troubling passengers on long-distance trains, particularly in AC coaches. Recently, several passengers of a coach of the Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram Duronto Express had to be shifted to other coaches after cockroaches and other insects started swarming all over more than 30 minutes after the train left Chennai Central.