ScotRail train evacuated after carriages fill with smoke and ‘strange smell'
Forty passengers had to be evacuated from a ScotRail train after carriages began filling with smoke and a "strange smell".
Fire crews raced to the train, which had left Inverness at 5.36am today bound for Glasgow Queen Street, after smoke was spotted on board.
The service came to a halt between Gleneagles and Dunblane with travellers taken off amid a strong, pungent odour and put on another service heading for Perth. No injuries were reported.
Passengers were told their tickets would be accepted on rail replacement services.
ScotRail has warned of potential delays and changes on routes between Glasgow Queen Street and Inverness/Aberdeen, as well as Edinburgh Waverley and Inverness.
A passenger, Sarah MacMath, 35, told the BBC how a "person came over with a loud speaker" and told people to leave her carriage.
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"We did notice there was a bit of a funny smell from Aviemore or Kingussie - just a strange smell," she said. "I dozed off and woke up when the train stopped near Gleneagles and there was quite a lot of smoke in the carriage. The person then came over the loud speaker and asked us to either move to the end carriage or the first carriage.
"At that point, I stood up and there was a pretty heavy smell of smoke and there was quite a lot of it in the carriage."
Mark Ilderton, ScotRail's service delivery director, said passengers were safely evacuated.
He said: "The 05:36 Inverness to Glasgow Queen Street service was brought to a stop near Gleneagles this morning after reports of smoke being detected in one of the carriages. Our immediate priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone on board, and customers have been safely assisted from the train."
A message by ScotRail on X this morning read: "Due to a broken down train between Gleneagles and Dunblane all lines are blocked. Please keep an eye on our app/website for live service updates."
It later said: "A rescue train has been dispatched to assist the broken-down train," and that was followed by a post, shortly before midday, saying: "The broken-down train is now on the move back to the depot and we're working to get trains and crew back into position."
And on the ScotRail website it says of trouble between Gleneagles and Dunblane: "Train services running through these stations are returning to normal but some services will still be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected to last until around 13:30 today (01 August)."
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