Newly refurbished South West Train power cable fault caused Windsor fire, says report

Passengers had to walk along the track after being evacuated from the train at Windsor and Eton Riverside

A fire under a train was caused by loose cables after a refurbished train was reassembled, says a report.

A loose joint between three electrical power cables caused an explosion under the sixth carriage of the South West Trains service in January from the Windsor and Eton Riverside station.

Nineteen train passengers had to walk 400m (1,300ft) on the track to safety.

Quality control at the factory refurbishing the trains should be reviewed, the report recommends.

None of the passengers were injured following the fire on 30 January, although the driver of the train was treated for smoke inhalation.

Electrical arcing had developed at the loose joint, badly damaging the structure of a train and causing a fire which penetrated the floor and caused smoke to fill the carriages of the 19:53 service.

Review risks

The lights in the carriages went out before some of the passengers let themselves out using the emergency door and walked back to the railway station.

Railway staff later helped the remaining passengers walk back to the train station along the track.

The report, by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), also recommended Network Rail should change the rules relating to the conditions under which passengers are evacuated from trains after incidents.

It asked South West Trains to look at how emergency lighting on the trains should work in the event of a loss of external power, and to review the risks associated with power cables and the joints between them.

The company is currently carrying out a £275m upgrade of all its carriages, and has pledged 258 extra carriages by 2018, a 30% increase.

A South West Trains spokesperson said it had already introduced changes to meet the recommendations made by the RAIB.