London Gatwick train station was evacuated on Monday afternoon as emergency services raced to the airport following a fire on a train. A post shared on the airport’s official X account stated: “Due to a fire alarm activation at the train station, passengers have been evacuated into the South Terminal.
“The station is closed while emergency services respond to the incident Teams are responding to the situation and passengers are advised to check before travelling. We will update further when we can.”
Passengers including BBC5 Live presenter Claire McDonnell shared a clip of the incident on social media. She told the Mirror there was a “white flash on [the outside] of the carriage next to mine as [the] train pulled in”.
She added: “Passengers on [the] platform ran away, smoke started to come into [the] carriage next to mine. Announcements [were] made to get off [the]train and off [the] platform. [It was] calm at first then staff started to raise their voices to get people to understand the urgency of the situation.
“As we were going up the stairs, staff were running down with fire extinguishers and telling people to get out of the way but they were brilliant and people stayed calm. The white flashes and bangs, I think there were around three of them.”
In the clip Claire uploaded to X, formerly Twitter, smoke could be seen rising from below the train. A small fire could also be seen and appeared to have caused damage to the underside of one of the carriages.
Travellers were also seen calmly walking away from the train and up some stairs. She added in the post: “Heads up if you are heading to #gatwickairport, the train I was on from Brighton to #Londonvictoria just caught fire as it pulled in.
“So, the station is currently closed. So far it seems everyone is fine and staff acted quickly to get everyone out #gatwick.”
A West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson told The Mirror: “A spokesperson for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said: “We are currently responding to a small fire involving a passenger train at Gatwick Railway Station, South Terminal.
“Crews from West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and Gatwick Fire & Rescue Service are at the scene. All passengers are off the train and the railway station has been evacuated. The station is closed while firefighters respond to the incident.”
Southern Rail confirmed no trains would stop at Gatwick Airport due to the incident. A post on X said: “If you are travelling to/from Gatwick Airport, you will need to travel from Horley/Three Bridges instead.”
Southern added between Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges/Horley, your ticket would be accepted on Metrobus routes to Gatwick Airport. It added: “All routes running through Gatwick will not call at Gatwick Airport Station until further notice – the station is closed.”
The train station at London Gatwick is one of the best connected of any airport in the UK. According to its website, a train departs the station on average every four minutes.
The train station is close to the South Terminal and connects passengers directly to 120 train stations in the UK.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.