Tube passengers 'panicked on locked train which filled with smoke'

Tube passengers panicked as people tried to escape a locked train when smoke was detected, a report has found.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report said the driver lacked experience dealing with emergencies following the incident on the Central Line during last year’s Notting Hill Carnival on August 25.

The train was stopped in Holland Park station after passengers activated emergency alarms.

They detected smoke and the smell of burning and panicked after as the doors remained locked.

“The investigation found that rising fear spread through the train when passengers perceived little or no response from the train operator to the activation of the passenger emergency alarms,” the report said.

“The train side-doors remained locked and they were unable to open them, and they could not see any staff on the platform to deal with the situation.”

Fear led 13 passengers, including two children, to scramble through the window gaps between carriages to reach the platform.

The driver only activated the doors four minutes after the alarms went off.

The RAIB said no-one was hurt but “a number of passengers, including children, who had been on the train and on the platform reported being extremely distressed and in fear for their safety”.