Clapham Common station: Panic down to 'human factors'

Fear of fire on the London Underground led some people to smash a window to help passengers leave the train

"Human factors" have been cited as the cause of a panic on a London Underground train at Clapham Common last May.

Passengers on a northbound Northern Line train pressed the emergency alarm after thinking they had smelled smoke.

The train stopped with the leading two cars in a tunnel and the remaining four cars adjacent to the platform.

A Transport for London report said customers on the platform "reacted with concern", which escalated the problem.

• How Tube panic set in at Clapham Common station

• Passengers smash Tube train windows in fire alert

Multiple station alarms were pushed, which in turn triggered the station evacuation message to start sounding.

Customers on the platform started pulling train doors open and one person started breaking train windows.

"This led to an uncontrolled evacuation of customers from the train onto the platform through the broken windows and through the pulled open saloon car doors," the report said.

TfL believes the acrid smell was caused by debris

The report also said there was no fire but the smoke and smell of fire probably came from debris that had gathered on one of the braking units.

The investigation panel praised the members of staff "who had to deal with a difficult incident with a fast-changing risk potential".

Within 45 seconds of the passenger alarm being triggered, three staff - a manager with an assistant at the ticket barrier and another on the platform - realised there was the need to get all passengers out of the station and prevent new ones from entering.

All passengers had been evacuated from the train within 11 minutes of the onboard alarm being pressed, and five minutes before firefighters arrived on scene.

British Transport Police said no one was injured in the incident

The report said that customer self-detrainment is a very low frequency event on our network, although the consequence of such incidents can be high.

"Self-detrainment incidents are therefore considered as high risk events. The Clapham Common event was a high-risk event that fortunately did not lead to serious injury or significant asset damage."

Nick Dent from London Underground, said: "We are confident that station staff and the train driver responded appropriately to the incident and that the station was safely and properly staffed. The London Fire Brigade also confirmed that there was no fire on the train.

"However, we will continue to review the information to determine any changes or improvements that can be applied in the future. We apologise for the distress this incident caused to customers at Clapham Common and will continue to do all we can to ensure the safety of all passengers."

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