Passengers on a train travelling to Hereford and Leominster have spent hours out in the cold waiting for transport after a fire on a train between Hereford and Shrewsbury.
The incident occurred near Craven Arms and saw surrounding roads closed due to safety concerns. West Mercia Police, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and British Transport Police were all alerted to the incident at approximately 11pm on Sunday evening.
Passengers were evacuated from the train and asked to wait in a nearby car park for a coach. The coach took a number of hours to turn up and then had to wait a further 45 minutes due to the coach drivers hours almost being up.
Your Herefordshire understands that all passengers were evacuated from the train safely and that surrounding roads have now reopened.
Joshua who was travelling on the train told Your Herefordshire that at 5.45am, some passengers were still on a coach heading to South Wales, almost seven hours after the original incident.
Joshua went on to say that he believed the fire started after the train hit an object on the tracks. We are awaiting a further statement from British Transport Police and Transport for Wales.
An operational incident between Hereford and Shrewsbury means all lines are blocked. Trains running between these stations will be revised or cancelled.
Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Alternative travel advice:
Transport for Wales advise not to travel on this route if possible.
If you do need to travel, a limited replacement road transport service is in place between Hereford and Shrewsbury. Customers are advised to use alternative rail services.
You may use your tickets on the following services to complete your journey:
- Avanti West Coast between Crewe and Birmingham New Street
- CrossCountry between Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street
- Great Western Railway between Cardiff Central and Bristol Parkway
- West Midlands Railway between Shrewsbury / Crewe and Birmingham New Street
