‘Smoke’ alert causes train evacuation

A TRAIN was evacuated yesterday morning following reports of smoke in a carriage.

Passengers on the 7.28am Great Western Railway service from Swansea to London were told to wait on the platform at Bridgend railway station.

Fire and rescue services were called and three crews attended.

The train was evacuated due to an air conditioning fault, a spokesman for Great Western Railway said.

He said: “The 07.29am Swansea to London Paddington service was terminated at Bridgend due to an air conditioning fault in one carriage.

“Passengers have been taken forward on the next available train, and we are sorry for the inconvenience caused to their journeys.”

Delays were reported on other services, with trains between Bridgend and Cardiff Central delayed or diverted via the Vale of Glamorgan line.

Replacement buses were in place for Arriva Trains Wales services between Pencoed, Llanharan and Pontyclun to Cardiff Central.

A guard on one GWR service apologised to passengers who joined from the broken down train.

Passenger Kirstie Sutherland, who was waiting on the platform in Bridgend for half an hour, tweeted: “If I was undecided as to just how cold it’s become recently, my train being evacuated and having to stand around at Bridgend station for half an hour has made me mighty sure of it.”

Service were back to normal by 10am.