[TempleRyan]

Just saw some Tweets and it appears there's a fire on a Southeastern metro train, either a 465/466, between Lee and Mottingham.

From what I can work out, the driver evacuated the train and the passengers are now standing on the tracks... and apparently the track is still live. Check out these pictures...

https://p.twimg.com/AvS-YLhCQAEosNT.jpg:large

https://p.twimg.com/AvS-w-9CMAIhcbZ.jpg

I hope the live rail is not that side of the train.

UPDATE: Looks like it's 2N72, the 20:52 CHX - GRV.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18436708

Originally Posted by BBC News

Fire forces 200 to leave train

Up to 200 passengers were forced to leave a train in south-east London after a small fire on board.


Nobody was reported to have been injured in the incident which is said to have involved a fire under a train at Mottingham.


A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said its staff checked over a number of passengers at the scene.


The London Fire Brigade was called but it is understood the fire was already out by the time crews arrived.


Southeastern Trains said on its website that train services through Hither Green and Sidcup were subject to delays, cancellations or revision at short notice because of the incident.


Buses are being used to take passengers between Lewisham and Dartford until further notice, it said.


Transport has also been laid on to take passengers between Lee and Dartford until the situation had been resolved.

[jopsuk]

surely when the driver evacuated the train he'd have called the ECS and for good measure dropped on the short circuit bar? Passengers may well have been told not to step on the rail anyway, throughout the entire country the safe evacuation advice is "never step on any rails".

[TempleRyan]

Originally Posted by jopsuk

surely when the driver evacuated the train he'd have called the ECS and for good measure dropped on the short circuit bar? Passengers may well have been told not to step on the rail anyway, throughout the entire country the safe evacuation advice is "never step on any rails".

I would have thought this too and imagine that has happened.. but one passenger has said they were "...advised to stay next to train and not pass it as track is still live..". Probably just precaution from driver, but can only go on what passengers say.

[ushawk]

Looking at the location and with the embankment - it does look as is the 3rd rail would be on the other side. Police and Fire Service on scene according to Twitter. Would have though the power would be shut off by now too.

[jopsuk]

Originally Posted by TempleRyan

I would have thought this too and imagine that has happened.. but one passenger has said they were "...advised to stay next to train and not pass it as track is still live..". Probably just precaution from driver, but can only go on what passengers say.

Safety first- better to keep the passengers there than have them roam. Scaring them a bit can help!

[TempleRyan]

More pictures. Emergency services are on the scene, I guess it's just something you don't see everyday...

https://yfrog.com/Himg686/scaled.php...=480&ysize=480

https://yfrog.com/Himg808/scaled.php...=480&ysize=480

[ushawk]

Looking at the pictures, i believe the train is stuck on the bridge over the Sidcup Road - could be wrong of course. Makes for good access by the emergency services.

[TempleRyan]

Originally Posted by ushawk

Looking at the pictures, i believe the train is stuck on the bridge over the Sidcup Road - could be wrong of course. Makes for good access by the emergency services.

Just looked on Google Street View and yes, it's on the down line above Sidcup Road.

[ushawk]

https://p.twimg.com/AvTID8ECMAEeWix.jpg

New picture on Twitter, looks as if the road has been fully closed.

[tsr]

Stuck between the third rail, a burning train and a busy road on an overgrown railway embankment and a bridge is, shall we say, not the safest situation, to put it mildly, so it's a big "well done" to the train crew, NR and the emergency services if nobody got injured.

On the other hand, the train doesn't seem to exactly be well-alight, so I wonder where the fire was and how quickly it was extinguished (or even put itself out).

[lukespencer]

I was on that train! I got off at Lee, so the problem defiantly happened after!

[TempleRyan]

Originally Posted by tsr

Stuck between the third rail, a burning train and a busy road on an overgrown railway embankment and a bridge is, shall we say, not the safest situation, to put it mildly, so it's a big "well done" to the train crew, NR and the emergency services if nobody got injured.

On the other hand, the train doesn't seem to exactly be well-alight, so I wonder where the fire was and how quickly it was extinguished (or even put itself out).

Oh absolutely. No injuries were reported so a huge well done to all. In one picture there's a smokey haze, so I should imagine it was a small fire probably under the train.

[Sabre999uk]

London Fire Brigade Twitter says small fire under train 200 persons evacuated, London Ambulance Service says 126 persons & no injures.

Steve

[mickyboyno1]

I was on this train. Would like to say.......
The driver didn't say a single thing to any of the passengers before or after the evacuation of our carriage. We were on the third from front and past the bridge in earlier pictures. After helping everyone from the carriage my friend and I walked past the drivers carriage to see flames coming from what looked like the brake lines or cabling near there. Drive had left his cab as we walked past to check if he was ok and was still nowhere to be seen!! I find this shocking he couldn't even manage an announcement to explain a situation. Well done to the emergency services, but I did not use these as we walked down the tracks to Mottingham and got a lift home.

[tsr]

Originally Posted by mickyboyno1

I was on this train. Would like to say.......
The driver didn't say a single thing to any of the passengers before or after the evacuation of our carriage. We were on the third from front and past the bridge in earlier pictures. After helping everyone from the carriage my friend and I walked past the drivers carriage to see flames coming from what looked like the brake lines or cabling near there. Drive had left his cab as we walked past to check if he was ok and was still nowhere to be seen!! I find this shocking he couldn't even manage an announcement to explain a situation. Well done to the emergency services, but I did not use these as we walked down the tracks to Mottingham and got a lift home.

Out of interest, were you guided down the tracks, or did you walk down on your own initiative? Obviously without guidance that's rather a dangerous thing to do, although I am by no means saying you actually did act dangerously.

Was the evacuation controlled by automated announcements (I'm not sure if that feature is available on those trains...)?

I suspect the driver was laying detonators and using other safety devices (including to remove some of the hazards of the traction current) as appropriate to protect your train, and was further down the line doing so, thus unavailable to talk to you. Unfortunately with few staff on trains, I can see there can be a hard choice to be made between closing the line so no trains can get near passengers and the alternative, which is to briefly check for injuries and inform passengers of the incident.

Your description is rather interesting - thank you, and welcome to the forums!