Forty passengers evacuated near Gleneagles after train fills with smoke

Forty passengers have been evacuated from a train in Perth and Kinross after reports that some carriages were “filling with smoke”.

The train left Inverness for Glasgow Queen Street at 05:36 but it was halted between Gleneagles and Dunblane after smoke was detected.

Passengers were taken off the train and transferred to another service for Perth, with tickets valid for rail replacement transport.

ScotRail said services between Glasgow Queen Street and Inverness/Aberdeen, and Edinburgh Waverley and Inverness may face alterations and delays.

There have been no reports of injuries and the train is being transported back to the depot in Glasgow.

One of the passengers, Sarah MacMath, 35, told BBC Scotland News: “We did notice there was a bit of a funny smell from Aviemore or Kingussie – just a strange smell.

“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.”

She said the passengers were moved through another carriage which also had “a lot of smoke in it”.

They were then taken to the first class carriage, which was clear of smoke, just after 08:00.

Ms MacMath added: “We were told not to panic and that we were safe and not to worry. They said it could have been a problem with the brakes but they weren’t sure.

“We were kept informed and they kept checking we were ok. We were being asked if anyone felt ill from breathing in the smoke.

“They managed to get another train for us, so we climbed down ladders onto the tracks and were helped along the tracks to the rescue train. It was quite unstable underfoot, but the engineers helped us.”

She said it was “alarming” to see the smoke, but staff handled the situation “really well”.

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail’s service delivery director, 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.”