Victoria station evacuated
THE appearance of Flying Scotsman at London’s Victoria station sparked controversy when smoke detectors triggered fire alarms which resulted in the station being closed and passengers evacuated as a safety precaution. The alarms sounded on Thursday, May 31, when after working a Steam Dreams’ luncheon train to Oxford, Scotsman was booked to head an evening trip from Victoria around the Surrey Hills route via Guildford, Redhill and East Croydon. Commuters, milling around outside the station, were bemused and frustrated during a 15-minute evacuation and by subsequent delays to train services. Passengers on the ‘Cathedrals Express’ were oblivious to the upheaval that their train’s departure had caused and no doubt were settling down in anticipation of the meal served as part of the trip.
Scotsman to Holyhead
LNER A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman heads Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’ lunchtime dining train from Paddington to Oxford on May 31. JACK HAYNES Rail operator Southeastern claimed that the alarm – which is usually disabled when a steam train visits the station – may have been switched back on too soon. “The cause of the fire alarms at Victoria has been found, the steam train set them off. The station will reopen shortly and trains will commence running.” A spokesman for Network Rail IN A joint venture between the Class Forty Preservation Society and the East Lancashire Railway, LNER A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman has been
confirmed that steam and smoke from the famous locomotive sparked the evacuation between 7.21pm and 7.36pm on Thursday. (The ‘Cathedrals Express’ was timed to depart at 7.19pm.) Responding to Southeastern’s explanation for the evacuation and delays someone compared the steam train to the Thomas the Tank Engine cartoon, posting a picture of the booked to work a tour throughout from Bury to Holyhead and return on September 15. The train, to be operated by West
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children’s favourite with caption: ‘Ban him from ever visiting again!’ Later, a reliable source said that the alarm went off immediately after Scotsman’s departure. According to the source it was the diesel banking the train up the 1-in 67 out of the station which caused the problem. The smoke alarm was activated by diesel fumes rather than heat... Coast Railways, is being run to raise money for the East Lancashire Railway’s purchase of SR West Country Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells.
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