Fire crews have tackled a blaze on board a Caledonian Sleeper train at Cupar railway station that forced the main railway line through Fife to close.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 5.45am on Wednesday.
Passengers were evacuated as the service arrived at the station and there were no injuries.
A witness told The Courier how the smoke was “pretty bad at one point” as the electrical fire took hold.
The incident caused major disruption on the rail network with several trains having to be cancelled.
Services were being diverted via Perth while the line was shut, while a shuttle bus was also transporting passengers between Ladybank and Dundee.
The line reopened at around 11am with services returning to normal.
The route between Dundee and Ladybank has now fully reopened in both directions. Thanks for your patience while the emergency services dealt with an incident.@ScotRail @LNER @CrossCountryUK @CalSleeper
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) September 15, 2021
One man arrived at Cupar station to find his train to Dundee cancelled – as he was going to start a new job.
The 24-year-old, who gave his name as Jonathon, said: “This is my first day of a new job, working at the University of Dundee, my first day in the office.
“I’m a bit nervous as it is so obviously this hasn’t helped.
“I was getting the train because of the roadworks at the Tay Road Bridge, but I saw there were huge delays the other day so thought the train would be less hassle.
“I think I’m just going to have to take my car now after all.”
One worker at the station said: “I arrived at work thinking it was another day at the office and pulled up to see fire engines and police.
“It’s not what you expect. As long as no one is hurt that’s the main thing though.
“I’ve never heard of one of our trains going on fire before.”
A spokesperson for Caledonian Sleeper said: “One of the locomotives pulling our northbound highlander service to Aberdeen suffered a technical issue this morning, resulting in damage to some underframe electrical cables and some smoke.
“All of our guests and staff were safely taken off the train at Cupar as a precaution, and they are completing their journeys by alternative transport.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our guests and other rail users.
“The passenger coaches were unaffected, and the defective locomotive has been removed from the train and returned to our maintenance facility.
Sleeper services returning to normal
“All of tonight’s Caledonian Sleeper services are due to run as scheduled.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “There was an electrical fire underneath the first carriage of the train.
“Our crews used two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire. We sent three appliances.
“We arrived at 5.46am and the stop message came in at 7.26am. We left the scene at 8.10am.”