Eye-witnesses accounts of train on fire at Berrylands station

Around 200 passengers waited on the smoking train for about an hour and a half before being evacuated along the snow-covered tracks to Berrylands.

Firefighters said the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

South West Trains parent company Stagecoach has still not responded to requests for information about the incident. Officials at Berrylands referred queries to the Stagecoach press office.

Firefighters were called at 10.36am but eye witnesses say the train was on fire earlier.

Michael Oakes, 41, a civil servant travelling from Woking to London Waterloo to the Home Office spoke to the Surrey Comet while waiting for the power to turn on.

He said: "The train came to a stop just outside Berrylands and there were some sparks and smoke.

"One of the guards came and moved us all to the front of the train. The smell of burning and burnt rubber was reasonably strong.

"Everyone was very British and stoical about it."

Miles Harvey, 56, said: "I think they handled it very well. There's been a lot of communication and everyone is coping quite well."

The power was turned back on at 12.01pm.

Alex Wood, 24, a freelance journalist from Surbiton, boarded the next train which pulled up alongside the smoking train for five minutes before moving on.

He said: "There was lots of smoke coming up from the underside of the carriage to the window level of the train.

"Everyone was just sitting on the train. Nobody was moving."

Another eye witness in a shop near the tracks said commuters carried on reading the newspaper.

The train is still at Berrylands station and making exploding noises with electrical flashes, according to an eye witness.

Trains are now running with severe delays.

Mr Wood said he had only just arrived at work after sitting inside the carriage for an hour at Clapham Junction due to the backlog trying to get to Waterloo.

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