Station evacuated after smoke billows from train
● Questions raised about Scotrail acquiring old trains for inter-city routes
Fumes from one of Scotrail’s newly-acquired veteran trains caused significant disruption after they triggered the evacuation of Scotland’s third busiest station.
Commuters were forced out of Queen Street in Glasgow at about 7:40am yesterday when excessive diesel exhaust emissions set off fire alarms.
Plumes of smoke billowed from the 40-year-old “High Speed Train”, whose engine is understood to have been replaced 15 years ago.
Scotrail was investigating the cause amid speculation it could have been an exhauster overheating, blown gasket or failed turbo charger.
The incident is the latest problem to beset the trains, which previously ran in the west of England.
Two years ago, the engine of one of the trains destined for Scotrail caught fire in Exeter.
Their refurbishment for Scotrail is running more than a year late, with several having to be pressed into service in their “classic” state.
The fumes incident has renewed concerns about operator Abellio choosing the trains for Scotrail’s inter-city routes rather than new ones.
Glasgow North East Labour MP Paul Sweeney tweeted: “Probably not a great idea for Scotrail to acquire 40-yearold Intercity 125 trains then try to pass them off as a fantastic new service after some superficial refurbishment.
“Meanwhile other operators in the UK have switched to brand new Hitachi Azuma trains, and flogged the 125s.”
The TSSA union described the trains as “museum pieces” and blamed ministers for accepting them as part of Abellio’s bid to run Scotrail.
But Transport Scotland said: “Safety is a priority and all rolling stock, new or refurbished, is thoroughly tested to ensure this is maintained.
“The franchise agreement sets very high reliability standards for these trains.”
A Scotrail spokesperson said: “The decision was taken quickly to remove the train from the station but the smoke approaching the roof caused the fire alarm to be activated. The station was evacuated as a result.
“At no point was there a fire. “It’s too early to say what caused the smoke, but a technical investigation will be carried out. Scotrail will be working closely with engine supplier MTU during this process.”