Fire at London Charing Cross

[Saint66]

Reports on twitter (and pictures) that a train has caught fire at Charing cross.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30167555

London's Charing Cross Station closed after fire on train

Charing Cross Station in central London has been closed after a fire on a train.

London Fire Brigade said 5% of one carriage was alight on Platform Six but this has now been put out.

Firefighters are now dealing with smoke which has spread to an adjacent hotel. There have been no reports of any injuries.

The fire brigade was called at 10:52 GMT and the fire was put out soon afterwards.

 

[bicbasher]

Twitter is full of photos of a small fire at Charing Cross.

According to the pictures, it started on-board a Class 375 unit on a platform (possibly 5 or 6)

The fire has since been put out.

 

[jnjkerbin]

Pictures show a Class 375 apparently on fire. Fire Brigade reporting no one hurt fortunately.

 

[user15681]

Now being told first carriage on platform 6. Minor fire apparently. Thank god nobody hurt.

 

[bicbasher]

It appears Southeastern are diverting coast and Orpington/Sevenoaks stoppers to Victoria. Others at London Bridge.

 

[trentside]

Link to pictures on Twitter, looks fairly serious;

https://twitter.com/ThatSugarCray/status/536486479183499264/photo/1

 

[bicbasher]

Is that passenger attempting to board the train?

 

[thenorthern]

Reports of an Explosion but it looks very serious.

 

[bicbasher]

The unit involved appears to be the 1055 1H28 service to Robertsbridge.

 

[jnjkerbin]

The Daily Mail of course goes with the headline
"Charing Cross station evacuated after huge fire breaks out on train at platform
Fire started in front carriage of train which had pulled into the station
One witness said it appeared locomotive may have crashed into buffers
Jacob Lovie, 22: 'There was this screech, bang and smoke everywhere'"

I'm not even joking.

 

[user15681]

Is that passenger attempting to board the train?

I'm pretty sure not. Further images I've seen show said person running to the door, opening it and gesturing something to someone - probably to get off. He also has something bulky on a strap in his hand, so could be the guard.

 

[Dolive22]

HuffPost, citing "Transport Police" (BTP, obviously), says the fire was on the track as the train pulled in, also that there is "nothing sinister".

 

[GatwickDepress]

Absolutely glad nobody was hurt. Will the smoke easily dissipate at Charing Cross?

 

[Dolive22]

BTP say it may have been an electrical fault.

 

[theageofthetra]

If it was in the country end front driving coach it would most likely be out in the open- inside is a different matter the roof is very low & would I imagine fill with smoke very quickly.

 

[Daz28]

If it was in the country end front driving coach it would most likely be out in the open- inside is a different matter the roof is very low & would I imagine fill with smoke very quickly.

Platform Six inside, right by the buffers, which would have made evacuation trickier. Thankfully it was Sunday so not too many passengers.

 

[bicbasher]

First news report has surfaced on YouTube. 1 person suffered a panic attack. The fire is claimed to have happened as the unit entered the station rather than on-board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEAsyJOdqIg&feature=youtu.be

 

[richw]

BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30167555

Charing Cross Station in central London has been closed after a fire on a train.

London Fire Brigade said 5% of one carriage was alight on platform six but this has now been put out.

Firefighters are now dealing with smoke which has spread to an adjacent hotel. There have been no reports of any injuries.

Network Rail said the station would reopen this afternoon but disruption was expected to last until 15:00 GMT.

Currently trains are being diverted to London Victoria or London Bridge.

Transport for London said the Underground station was closed for about 15 minutes before reopening.

The fire brigade was called at 10:52 GMT and the fire was put out soon afterwards.

Fire at Charing Cross Station
Vincenzo Minore, who was a passenger on the train, said: "There was panic - you are sitting on a train and hear a blast and see a lot of lights and don't know what it was."

He said there were about 30 to 40 people on the platform at the time of the blast and it took a few seconds until people realised what was going on.

He added that as people were running in different directions, it took about 15 minutes to evacuate the platform.

Annika Anwary, who works in the station and saw the fire, said: "There were quite a lot of flames and flashing lights.

"People were just all running out of there. Most of them had already left by the time I came up.

"They tried to stay calm but there were definitely people running."

Staff are now being allowed back into the station but it is still closed to passengers.

 

[bicbasher]

Metro - Click on link for a video.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/11/23/chari...-train-fire-at-platform-4959096/?ito=facebook

Charing Cross Station evacuated after train fire at platform


Richard Hartley-Parkinson for Metro.co.ukSunday 23 Nov 2014 11:57 am

Charing Cross station was evacuated as emergency services dealt with a fire on a train.

London Fire Brigade said that the ‘small fire’ on a front carriage had been brought under control at the central London station.

A National Rail spokesman said that the station was evacuated at 10.50am following reports of a fire in the vicinity of a train on platform six.

Passengers were told to expect disruptions until 1.30pm.

Neil Hurle witnessed the fire on platform six from platform four.

He said that the flames appeared to be coming up from the tracks at the front of the train.

He described the noise as a ‘loud, grating-type noise’ and was marshalled onto the concourse by his driver.

British Transport Police later said they believed the fire started as a result of an electrical fault.

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: ‘We were called at 10.55am to reports of a fire on a train at Charing Cross.

‘We sent a duty manager to the scene and two patients were checked over, but nobody was taken to hospital.

‘Our involvement in the incident has now concluded.’

A statement posted on National Rail’s website said: ‘A fire at London Charing Cross is causing disruption to journeys between London Charing Cross / London Blackfriars and London Bridge.

‘Because of congestion caused by trains being diverted, Thameslink trains will not call at stations between London Blackfriars and East Croydon.

‘Trains are currently unable to run to and from London Charing Cross. Some services will be diverted to start / terminate at London Victoria or London Bridge.

‘There is no firm estimate yet of how long disruption will last but it is likely to continue until at least 1.30pm.

‘Passengers travelling further south than Orpington please travel from London Victoria.

‘Passengers travelling towards Dartford and Hayes please travel from London Bridge.’

London Fire Brigade said about 5% of the front carriage was alight.

Pictures and videos posted on social media showed the flames and passengers fleeing the station.

Several fire engines and London Ambulance Service vehicles could be seen outside the busy station by Trafalgar Square.

 

[Saint66]

Charing Cross re-opened apart from platforms 5 and 6.

 

[Jonny]

The BBC has some images - the flames look like 3rd rail arcing - so an electrical issue?

 

[Darandio]

Is that passenger attempting to board the train?

As much as it is unlikely, and was probably explained as such further above, the worrying thing is that it wouldn't be surprising!

 

[Bigfoot]

The BBC has some images - the flames look like 3rd rail arcing - so an electrical issue?

Having experienced a cable fire very recently the video/pictures of fire and smoke certainly look similar if not identical to what I experienced. The explosions of pots certainly make a hell of a noise worse in enclosed conditions I'm sure.

 

[EM2]

The BBC has some images - the flames look like 3rd rail arcing - so an electrical issue?

I would strongly suspect an overheating ceramic third-rail insulator (or 'pot') setting light to easily-combustible litter on the trackbed (sadly, all too common) and then exploding, or conversely, exploding first and hot fragments igniting litter.

 

[Merseysider]

“Suddenly the doors burst open and a woman ran through shouting there’s a bomb on the train, everybody get off,” she said.

Jesus Christ :roll:

 

[andy1571]

I recall being on a 4-VEP that suffered a fire at Charing Cross (platform 1 - strange for a mainline service) in the early 90s. Station evacuated (calmly) although the knock on to services was chaotic unsurprisingly. Certainly didn't make BBC News!

 

[STANDISH]

Quiet morning news.

 

[59CosG95]

I would strongly suspect an overheating ceramic third-rail insulator (or 'pot') setting light to easily-combustible litter on the trackbed (sadly, all too common) and then exploding, or conversely, exploding first and hot fragments igniting litter.

All the more reason to convert everthing to 25kV...

 

[Monty]

Jesus Christ :roll:

Yes my child?



To be fair though, the 3rd rail insulators can make an almighty bang when they go off.

 

[dysonsphere]

Yes my child?

You called father