Two hundred rail passengers forced off train as fire breaks out under carriage

Two hundred passengers were evacuated from a London commuter train after fire broke out underneath the front carriage.

Police today launched an investigation following reports the train — the 8.52pm Southeastern service from Charing Cross to Gravesend — may have hit an object on the track.

Witnesses claimed they saw people on the track shortly before the drama in south-east London last night.

Some passengers, including a number of pregnant women and elderly people, were led to safety by crossing over the railway tracks or down a steep bank. Others were walked along the trackside to the nearest station.

Commuters were delayed for up to two hours with services diverted and cancelled.

The fire happened in an area known for vandalism. The train, which was forced to stop on a bridge between Lee and Mottingham, was moved to a depot and was today undergoing detailed examination.

Brian Milligan, 49, who works for Barclays and was travelling home to Swanscombe, Kent, said the air was filled with a burning smell as the train came to a halt.

He said: “We’d just left Lee station and were moving along when all of a sudden the lights went out. You could smell an electrical burning smell.

“Then some people said there appeared to be a fire further up the train. There was no panic. Everybody was brilliant. It was lucky we were on the bridge as it was easy to get off.

“The police and fire brigade arrived very quickly.”

Staff at a pub near the bridge, The Dutch House, told how they helped passengers climb over a fence to safety. They were given shelter, food and drinks. Manager Danny Watson said: “It was a pretty full train, there was a pregnant lady on there who was upset. Witnesses were saying there were people on the track and some boys ran off down the road ... I don’t know whether it was vandalism.”

Thousands more rail commuters suffered delays today when a broken down train at Effingham Junction hit services into Victoria and mainline Waterloo. A power failure at Winchfield disrupted services into Waterloo.