The chain on an Indian train is a mystery. People want to know what happens when you pull the chain. Some wonder if it will even work. As kids, our parents always conjured up some wild thing that they said would happen if we pulled the chain without a genuine issue. Owing to that, most people are always left wondering about this ‘mysterious thing’.
We scoured the internet and found multiple stories where people shared what happened when they pulled the chain on a train. Some reasons are hilarious while others are genuine. Read on below.
1. “Bihar mein ek family ko train chalte waqt gaav dikh gaya toh unhone chain kheech di… Aur nikal liye.” – Bitter_Hurry7698
2. “I saw a guy pull the chain because he forgot to get down on his station. He pulled the chain midway once he realised his station had passed. The train driver and some inspector came along to check who pulled the chain and why. This whole thing delayed the train by 30-45 minutes. I remember being excited about the whole thing as the guy was shouting at the window seat person to pull the chain for him and he kept refusing.” – koli98
3. “There was a man who was finding it difficult to catch his breath. This further transitioned into a full-blown asthma attack and he couldn’t breathe. In his few breaths, he said his wife in the other bogey had his inhaler. We, the knights for him in the train, yanked the chain, and to our shock, nothing happened; the train continued to go about itself without any change.” – sid_kaps
4. “My wife did this once for her uncle. The uncle was running late to catch an outstation train. He asked my wife to pull the chain, and she did. There was a mini blast and smoke of a kind to indicate the location where the chain got pulled. In less than a minute, the station master, 5-7 TTEs, 3-4 lady RPFs, and 8-10 male RPFs all came to check the reason. A random dude got down from the train, who had nothing to do with the chain-pulling thing. RPF gave him a tight slap thinking that he was the one to pull the chain.” – 454165
5. “I had once pulled the chain on my way from Goa to Mumbai. It was 2 AM and suddenly a lot of mobile phones were stolen from our coach and the next coach. I stopped it in the middle of the night. A bulb glows in the coach where the chain has been pulled. The TC along with the RPF constable came and asked why I had pulled the chain. If your reasons are genuine, nothing happens to you.” – moronbehindthescreen
6. “In order to go to Dudhsagar waterfalls, our ‘guide’ made us board a normal train. He pulled the chain at some random point in the route. After that, we had to trek to the waterfalls.” – No_Offer610
7. “A lady boarded the wrong train and she did not realise that it was the wrong one. Later she realised it once we left the station. Many people tried pulling the chain, but instead of stopping, the train went faster” – Single-Coffee3591
8. “My friend did. The train stopped at the dead centre of the bridge.” – HawkEye_7
9. “A family was late and their young kid came running and pulled the chain so that his parents and siblings could board the train. Nothing happened. The driver came, heard the situation, and went back to drive.” – Blasticity
10. “At Hubli, a teenager gets off the train to buy something. Suddenly the train starts moving and his parents realize that he is not on the train. They looked out to see him running to catch the train. They pulled the chain and within minutes a few railway police officers came to their seats inquiring about the issue. They considered it to be negligence on their part and fined them ₹1000 for it. They informed him that he had to appear in Hubli Railway court before a judge.” – dead_blind_pilot
11. “One of my co-passenger’s mobile fell outside the window. I pulled the chain and the train stopped around 50-100 meters from the area. He went outside, searched, and found it. Meanwhile, TT came to our coach, we told him the situation. He understood.” – Kaushal Sinha
12. “I pulled the chain of Kashi Vishwanath Express twice near the platform as my father’s insulin was on the way from my home. He has Type 2 diabetes. We were not charged with a fine or any imprisonment as the reason was genuine.” – Priyanshu Tiwari
The railways state that pulling the chain “without reasonable and sufficient cause is a punishable offence under Section 141 of the Indian Railways Act, 1989. The penalty includes imprisonment for up to one year or a fine or ₹1000 or both.”
Now we know what happens when you pull the chain on a train.