Fire crews put out train fire near Burnham

Rail passengers en route to London suffered an unusual delay after the engine in a driver cab on their train caught fire.

Firefighters from Slough, Maidenhead and Bracknell attended the blaze at about 11.20pm last night (Wednesday), with the train stopped between Burnham and Taplow.

Trains going through the area were stopped as fire crews attended the incident.

The Slough crew initially fought the fire, which was in the rear cab, with fire extinguishers.

The firefighters were unable to use water until the newly-installed overhead electrical wires were shut down by Network Rail.

Once they received word they were down, the crew was able put out the blaze.

All 52 people on board, who were travelling from Bristol to London, were fine and let off at Slough station.

They had been unable to disembark earlier from the train as it was in the middle track.

The train guard had moved passengers down the train away from the fire, and were seen to by the South Central Ambulance Service's Hazardous Area Response Team.

Group Manager Dom Manton, who was RBFRS' Incident Commander at the scene of the fire, said: “The response to this fire was very well organised, ensuring that passengers were kept safe at all times.

“We worked closely with the Rail Incident Officer, British Transport Police and South Central Ambulance Service to ensure that the incident could be dealt with as quickly as possible.”

The Slough fire crew left the incident by 4am.