Report released one year after terrified commuters smash train windows to escape from smoke-filled carriages

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has released a report one year after a Tube train filled with smoke causing terrified commuters to smash through its windows to escape. 

RAIB has made three recommendations to London Underground after investigating the incident which took place in a partially platformed train at Clapham Common London Underground station on May 5, 2023.

At around 5.45pm a London Underground train departing from Clapham Common station was brought to a halt when a passenger activated the emergency alarm after smoke and a smell of burning entered the train. British Transport Police said the panic was sparked by the smell of brake dust from a faulty train “ which can often be confused with burning”.

The train came to a standstill with two cars inside the tunnel and four cars adjacent to the platform. The train’s doors remained closed. 

About 100 of the train’s 500 passengers evacuated on to the platform by pushing open the interconnecting doors between the train’s cars and smashing its windows.

Station staff began opening the train’s doors around four-and-a-half minutes after the train came to a standstill.

The incident resulted in minor injuries being reported by a few passengers. But the report said it had the potential to have more serious consequences including passengers falling on to the track and being exposed to conductor rails and approaching trains.

Andrew Hall, chief inspector of rail accidents, said: “During this incident staff didn’t fully appreciate the emerging safety risk when passengers’ behaviour began to escalate as they became increasingly anxious.

“When passengers did not receive suitable information about the nature of the incident and the actions they should take, nor see action they would have expected to be taken, they turned to desperate measures to self-evacuate.

“RAIB investigated a similar incident at Holland Park in 2013 and, for a number of years, that incident was used as an example to train staff about how to respond to such out-of-course events.

“But it was removed from the training syllabus and since then knowledge of the lessons learnt may well have begun to fade. This incident again demonstrates that learning from past operational incidents needs to be retained by organisations.”

The investigating branch has formally made three recommendations to London Underground, including improvements to procedures and training of staff, learning from previous incidents and undertaking a review of its existing risk assessment process.

Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said: “I would like to apologise again for the distress this incident caused to customers at Clapham Common and would like to reassure Londoners that we are continuing to do all we can to ensure the safety of everyone on the Tube.”

“Our commitment to safety is at the heart of everything we do, and our staff work hard to keep our customers safe in sometimes challenging circumstances. We welcome any opportunities to learn lessons from incidents on our network and, following our own investigation last year, we are already making good progress on the recommendations from the RAIB. This includes changes to our training, which will be in place in the coming weeks.”

Pictured top: A CCTV image from the train platform showing smashed glass on the floor after commuters escaped through the train’s windows (Picture: RAIB)