Arsonist caught on CCTV

THE moment a man allegedly set fire to Melbourne train before calmly walking off to board another service has been captured on CCTV.

Police released the footage on Thursday as they ramped up efforts to hunt down the man responsible.

The footage, captured by the train’s CCTV cameras, appears to shows the man pouring an accelerant across three seats out of a plastic water bottle.

He then appears to bend down (pictured) and set the seats alight, with the flames taking off and quickly spreading across the seats.

The man is then seen calmly walking out of the carriage and along the platform before boarding another train.

The incident happened on March 16.

“The fire caused damage to the seat and floor of the train,” Senior Constable Kendra Jackson said. “No one was injured.”