A TRAIN travelling between Longford and Dublin yesterday morning was forced to terminate at Clonsilla in northwest Dublin following a mechanical fault that resulted in one carriage being filled with smoke.
According to Iarnród Éireann, the carriage’s brakes became stuck to its wheels and overheated, causing a large volume of smoke to enter the cabin through its open windows.
Passengers said the carriage’s electricity failed soon after the train left the Leixlip Louisa Bridge station at about 7.05am.
When the train arrived at Leixlip Confey station, the carriage’s doors would not open and disembarking passengers were forced to move into neighbouring carriages in order to exit.
After leaving Leixlip Confey, the carriage began to fill with smoke, and the train stopped soon afterwards. Iarnród Éireann employees were seen assessing the carriage’s underside, and the train started moving again soon afterwards.
The carriage continued to fill with smoke and when it arrived at Clonsilla station, people standing on the platform urged the carriage’s passengers to get off the train immediately. “As we got into Clonsilla station, people on the platform informed us there was a fire under the carriage,” said Finian Doyle, who was travelling on the carriage.
“We then exited the train using the emergency release on the doors.”
A spokeswoman for Iarnród Éireann said that the heat generated by the brakes and the wheels sticking together had produced a mixture of steam and smoke, which had then entered the cabin. She denied that the carriage had caught fire and insisted that at no stage were the train’s passengers in danger.