Although a CMRL spokesperson denied any notable disruption in service, commuters complained that there was a brief suspension in service on the Chennai Central – Airport route around 7 am when there was considerable crowd.

It may be noted that the glitch reported on Wednesday was the third in a couple of months. The worst of technical glitches was witnessed on June 30. Back then, the malfunction in the system forced the trains to be operated slowly at 25 kmph. It took CMRL authorities hours to rectify the error, which resulted in trains being operated at a frequency of 20 minutes instead of scheduled seven minutes even during peak hours on Chennai Central – Airport stretch.

On July 23, the CMRL suspended service for nearly 30 minutes on the Koyambedu – Egmore section after one of the trains malfunctioned at Kilpauk, forcing officials to close one of the ‘tubes’ on the underground stretch till the train was brought back to the Koyambedu yard for repair.