Train fire at Welwyn North

I visited Welwyn North following reports on the local radio of a train fire at the station. The Class 180 unit left Hull at 10:30am with the 1A93 designation to Kings Cross, and was running 8 minutes late as it passed through the tunnels at Welwyn North at around 12:52
Eyewitness reports said that as it passed through the second tunnel, huge flames and lots of smoke billowed from the rear unit, which allegedly caused a north bound freight train to also perform an emergency breaking, although looking at Realtime Trains the only freight movement prior to the incident went through Welwyn North around 18 minutes earlier.
When I got to the station coaches had been laid on to take the passengers on to Kings Cross, and just transport police, fire crews and railway officials were in attendance and the station had been closed to stopping trains, with a speed restriction imposed for passing trains.
You can see from the video that a lot of fluid had been sprayed over the rear unit, and smoke was still venting from the underside panels. A line block was placed allowing the officials to make an inspection. The decision was made to power up the first two units and route the train into a siding at Welwyn Garden City.
Sand was laid over the rails as there was signs of oil over the tracks, and then the lines were re-opened again, with a stream of backed up trains running through one after another. The train then limped under its own power the short journey across Digswell Viaduct into Welwyn Garden City.

[@slendermanRblx]

The class 180 is a state of the art *washing up liquid*

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Fairy'nough :)

[@awesometrainsandbuses]

Paul Tyreman is right *YOU'LL BE GOING NOWHERE*

[@slendermanRblx]

The class 180s have a fire protection system built into the engines the white stuff is the discharged extinuishing agent

[@PottersVideos2]

Doesn't matter, the fire brigade had to use extinguishers to put it out.

[@KermitTheFud]

@@PottersVideos2 its a fire suppression system and whilst it will not necessarily fully put out a fire, in a worst case scenario, it will temporarily prevent the spread of further fire and give passengers considerably more evacuation time and firefighters more response time before the whole carriage goes up. Id say it definitely matters.

[@jontownsend6451]

This issue has been known about for a few years now. Why can't the people in charge investigate this properly, do the necessary modifications, and job done. Hull Trains has taken a huge hit because of this, passengers too. Nothing is impossible, but in this country everything seems to be. We need proper common sense leadership that know what they are talking about, not pen pushers scratching for targets and drawing up lists with bullet points for all to suck up to.

[@FarmYardGaming]

to be fair this is a 180, a fire in these isn't hard to come by but yes, i agree with your sentiment

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

Great capture. Rare. Not the first time this has happened

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Yeah, fairly pleased with being able to document the later events, but I'm a bit miffed as I would have been there at lunchtime when the fire happened. But as I had already had a jolly out this week to Harpenden didn't bother popping up to my regular spot at Welwyn North - Sods law :).

[@alfredosgaming340]

@@MalcolmCrabbe if you have seen: Class 180 Faults and Failures you will see this is not a fire

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

@@alfredosgaming340 Well given the flames the eyewitness observed and the melted vinyl I beg to differ

[@johnb8956]

@@alfredosgaming340 you’ll be going nowhere!

[@FarmYardGaming]

​@@alfredosgaming340if you actually go back and watch the other class 180 videos you'd have known this was one.

[@milkandduckrailway323]

Please watch the *FGW Class 180 faults and failures*

[@ETGamer445]

you'll be going nowhere

[@warrenlocke8524]

Paul tyres be like You'll be going nowhere

[@daverobinson6184]

If ya can't find it just crank it up & wait for the flams then you find the trouble

[@cunnyfunt5059]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@edwardmortimer2150]

"The class 180 is a failure, drivers who have already been trained to drive them have found them problems"

[@britannia55]

My dads engine caught fire in Brixton and he got out the cab to have a look and it blow up in his face, he was so lucky as there was a fire station near by and they saw the smoke and put a ladder up to investigate and they lead my dad to safety, very scary as it temporarily blinded my dad and the third rail was just behind him.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Struth... sounds like your dad was very lucky that day. Thanks for the comment

[@tomedy_official]

you know its kind of funny, after they where built they kept having problems and 9 where rejected by FGW. but when hull trian obtained 4 of these units after having to give the class 222 to east midlands, some enginer's that worked for hull trains had found a way to improve them, and since then they be came reliable for intercity service and back up trains.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Thanks for the background info and support

[@sprinterofficial8457]

I believe grand centrals ones are quite reliable now but the EMR ones still have many issues There always idling at derby because of these issues

[@tomedy_official]

@@sprinterofficial8457 that would make a lot of sense, asGrand Central and Hull trains are open access operators. Still have it easier business wise compared to the other

[@Matt-jh9sq]

Failed in a bottleneck where the east coast main line has to go into 2 tracks aswell

[@thefatcontroller4094]

Class 180 *YoU'lL bE gOiNg NoWhErE*

[@BobaShakeMallow]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@babatunde6080]

Hahaha lol

[@Comrade1]

Just like Paul tyreman said They’ll be going no where

[@TheArkamedBat]

The Class 180 is dead,and the message is very clear: You'll be going nowhere

[@StuK323]

Is this what happens if you don’t start the mobilisation procedure in the back cab?

[@Trainman10715]

as you all know, you start the mobilisation procedure from the back cab. If you forget to do this, youll be going nowhere

[@firestarteronyoutube5542]

@@Trainman10715I thought it was if you didn't reset the emergency egress handles

[@Trainman10715]

@@firestarteronyoutube5542 it's a quote from a 180 ytp

[@firestarteronyoutube5542]

good lord@@Trainman10715 i forget they exist

[@nathanw9770]

Interesting. I'm surprised the station staff didn't tell you to get out of the station knowing network rail staff and health and safety reasons. I'm guessing the issue was a fuel leak or hydraulics leak seeing as train diesel engines are prone to catching fire that way.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Thanks for the comment. As there was no cordoned off area, and as I was never asked to stop filming or leave, the situation must have been deemed safe for the public to be on the platform.

[@nathanw9770]

@@MalcolmCrabbe Ok. There must be very friendly staff then at Welwyn North. If it was in London the staff would just tell eveyone to move lmao.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

@@nathanw9770 As you will notice from a lot of my other videos I'm a regular visitor there, and known to the station manager, so maybe that helped.

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

was it a huge fireball sparking out of this train just as it was entering the tunnel or did it just puff out smoke

[@Great_WesternTVFan]

Just a puff of smoke

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

According to eye witnesses flames were seen licking the rear car. Evidence of this can bee seen by the blistering and melting of the livery wrap

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

So they see the flames flickering at the rear of the train

[@tomtrainspotter7231]

Why is there gwr there?? *class 180 faults*

[@stephendines1936]

Tom Trainspotter GWR and Hull trains are the same company.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Tom, this has been explained in the comments below....

[@cheftang9358]

@@stephendines1936 Wow, learned something new. :D

[@harrithemechanic]

MML are meant to be recieving 180's soon becuase of the HST's having slam doors.

[@darylyatestransportblogs]

I wonder if the issues that the 180s have are the same that the 175s had when they were unreliable since they are basically the same train its strange that the 175s are ok now but the 180s are not could it be due to the work Alstom have done at Chester for the 175s do Alstom maintain the 180s as if they dont that could be one of the reasons.

[@SionsTrainVideos]

i think so

[@petahertz5855]

There was a 175 that caught fire last month near Abergavenny, I suspect its a maintenance thing because they seemed to be in shit condition after arriva.

[@SionsTrainVideos]

@@petahertz5855 yes happened a few months ago now its 175107 the middle carriage went on fire but its running a 2 car service now 175107 is the new TfW livery

[@darylyatestransportblogs]

@@petahertz5855 I heard about that I think 107 was the unit involved as its missing the middle carriage whilst it gets fixed. The fire problem is an issue with 175s that has never gone away, I think that makes it 6 fires in total from 27 units not good that.

[@rexy_1000]

What number is that eurostar at the very start?

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

373009 & 373010 - full video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4HZpH6VmN5noc0

[@katiegilbey9007]

Nice footage keep up the good work

[@maxwellwynne-shepherd7852]

I agree. :)

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

@@maxwellwynne-shepherd7852 Katie / Max - thanks for your support

[@pauljohansson7697]

I just subscribed to your channel.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Thank you

[@mitchellhurd9300]

I know train engines have to run for various reasons but is it a good idea to keep them running when you're dealing with an incident like this on a 180???

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

I think initially everything other than terminating services to WGC, through trains were diverted via the Hertford Loop, re-joining the main line at Stevenage. Once it was clear that there was no possibility of a major incident then the lines were re-opened but with a TSR in place. This was lifted once the lines were given back after the possession to inspect the train.

[@jrhall8970]

Love it how a newer train breaks down compared to the HST, that past by, which is older 😂

[@Faulty720]

That was not a HST. That was a class 91 they look completely different haha

[@ninamori09]

@@Faulty720 goto 7.40 and say that again.

[@Faulty720]

@@ninamori09 wasn't exactly obvious, as the affected unit had already been repaired by this point.

[@jrhall8970]

Tho without the HST, we won’t have any of the high speed trains we have today, most modern high speed trains use the same or similar design to the HST. For example the class 91, that passed first.

[@jrhall8970]

And that’s the reason I get confused between the two

[@firestarteronyoutube5542]

what on esrth are GWR staff doing here. or their hi-vis jackets anyway

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

If you read through the rest of the comments you'll find the answers to your questions.

[@darobzamusic6007]

the class 180 has special equipment in the engine bay, stopping the fire spreading to the passangers for 30 minutes.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Looking at the melted vinyl to the rear of the train, it would suggest that the automated fire suppression system either failed, or if activated, didn't work as efficiently as it should. Eye witnesses also described flames seen at the rear of the train as it came through the south tunnel. I'm sure that now, some two years after the event there is a report somewhere on the cause, possibly on the RAIB's website, although a quick search didn't throw up any results

[@Desiro360]

Great capture, well done. :)

[@clarky2356]

I remember the old dmus they used to smoke all the time from the engines lol

[@SkyTeam737]

are you sure its safe smoke comes from the bottom when it cleared out you let the train go how can that be safe..?

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

These trains are modular with each unit having its own drive, so once that unit had been isolated it was deemed safe enough to move it in to sidings a couple of kilometres up the line. This was as an empty stock move, all passengers had been taken by coaches to London.

[@SkyTeam737]

@@MalcolmCrabbe on okay thanks for telling me

[@MrTudwud]

Can't stick these and similar units to them. We are almost totally reliant on trains like these now because we don'y build our own any longer. So many inherent problems these days with stock built in the last 15 years or so.

[@Great_WesternTVFan]

Was there a flame blaze inside

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

There were no reported casualties, and from the looks of the train, the damage was external

[@waldomiroteixeira3074]

parabensssss

[@davidhou3037]

YOU'LL BE GOING NOWHERE! Paul Tyreman

[@khmcc5556]

Oh well aren’t we surprised its a class 180?

[@keeleywray9967]

If one of your train engines catch fire or breaks down you will be going nowhere 😂😂😂

[@TrainSpotter-rd4hs]

Good capture mate

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Thanks... - I was grateful to the staff / police and fire crews for allowing me to video. - made something for something different this week :)

[@ethomas5921]

Activate the fire bottle when, it’s too late!

[@jamesdraycott]

And now emr have the problem to deal with

[@spottymaxy1628]

Unsurprisingly, it’s a 180 😔

[@Ethanpick]

Wow didn't know that happned

[@BenjaminEsposti]

Another engine failure? Or was it a hydraulic failure?

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

I don't have any details, but overhearing a conversation at the time seems to suggest it was a pipe / hose that had failed causing whatever fluid to escape under pressure. But there was a strong smell of diesel in the air around that end of the train. There was no suggestion that it was an engine destroying itself like the last time !

[@kavirajnosib4648]

Expensive dish cleaning fluid.

[@sajidmahmood8383]

With the Class 180 YOUR GOING NO WHERE

[@trainspottingwithdanYT]

lucky 180s can withstand a bit of fire

[@mattbarker581]

" you'll be going nowhere"

[@TheArkamedBat]

YOU'LL BE GOING NOWHERE

[@RWblox]

What are the people saying?

[@thefatcontroller4094]

Words

[@yui4779]

Paul Tyreman was right

[@olikirrage]

You’ll be going nowhere

[@NaenaeGaming]

Highly advanced washing up liquid

[@samuelhud753]

What is the unit number?

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

180110

[@samuelhud753]

@@MalcolmCrabbe I'm presuming that emr now has it? Thanks for the reply😁

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

@@samuelhud753 To be honest I have no idea !

[@tenny_tenten]

@@MalcolmCrabbe Oh thats the 4 car 180 now after serious corrosion Its on EMR

[@jackssstaylor7438]

I can’t wait for them hull trains to be scrapped in about 2 months

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

I thought the class 802's weren't scheduled to enter service until December 2019 at the earliest ?

[@jackssstaylor7438]

Well I don’t really know when there getting the new Trains it could be December but I don’t really know

[@DPTrains]

LNER IET’s are entering service in may as for other IET’s I’m not sure

[@itsdanguo0519]

Why are they wearing GWR high vis

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

If you read the comments below, especially the one from Stephen Dines all will come clear ;-)

[@itsdanguo0519]

Malcolm Crabbe I didn’t see 😂

[@squidgyjack]

@@itsdanguo0519 I think it's to do with the fact they used to own it and are both owned by first group

[@frenchsteam7356]

why are the railway staff wearing GWR his vis vests?

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Personally, I have no idea.

[@79MBO]

French Steam Because GWR were responsible for the maintenance of the Hull Trains 180’s at the time having had a lot of experience with them when they leased them. I know 2 of those GWR technicians in this video.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

@@79MBO As you know two of the technicians, could you confirm what the cause of the fire was?

[@79MBO]

Malcolm Crabbe unfortunately I can’t confirm the exact reason for the fire. I left GWR a couple of years ago but I recognised two of the technicians who are ex colleagues. That said and based on my experience of driving them, in my opinion the fire was more than likely caused by a split fuel hose or high pressure hydraulic hose. You can kind of see a black sheen down the side of the underskirts which indicates some sort of liquid spill and 180’s were prone to split hoses.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

@@79MBO Thanks for the comment. I'm guessing that it was fuel given the smell and the blistering from heat shown on the side of the rear unit. I presume hydraulic fluid isn't flammable ?

[@yangwang-y2g]

The first one was a good idea

[@marioburgess4400]

Get me a railway seeper

[@richiej4710]

Auxilliary battery/s have fried... Happened on 175s when I worked on them...I can smell egg from here lol

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

I've been unable to confirm what the actual cause was. and whilst not an expert, I wouldn't have thought that batteries would have resulted in all the fluid down the side of the coach,.I think that if it were acid from the batteries, the fire crews wouldn't allow the other guys near the underside of the train without protective clothing?

[@richiej4710]

Malcolm Crabbe Thats the battery compartment with isolator handle...techs have probably already diagnosed battery detonation with acid spillage hence the sand to stop sleeper erosion. They should be wearing some kind of safety gear have chose not to something the fire brigade cant enforce its their choice. That unit was probably back in service after a short period of time...

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Further enquiries were made and it turns out the fire was a result of hydrostatic oil leaking from a hose in the cooler group which then ignited. Nothing to do with faulty batteries

[@richiej4710]

Malcolm Crabbe There was no fire for a start. If that was hydro oil they wouldnt have moved it the final drive would have been damaged plus the coolant and hydro and not located there next to the batteries for obvious reasons. You believe what you want to believe...

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

We will have to agree to disagree... Eyewitness reports and the bubbling of the paint/decals seem to point to a fire. I was also told first hand from the fire crew that the white vapour seen coming from the underside was smoke and not fumes

[@adamstrainvideos]

Now you'll be going nowhere.

[@Bqiles]

Why the heck are Great Western staff there...?

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Covered in the comments below...

[@jakebu293]

U expect it for hull trains

[@ETGamer445]

7:16 you will differently be going nowhere

[@bowlerwildcatGaming1991]

Just overheated breaks nothing to bad

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Apparently it was a fractured hydraulic line, which when came in to contact with the hot surfaces ignited.

[@bowlerwildcatGaming1991]

@@MalcolmCrabbe oh ok there was no flames in the video so it looked like it had just overheated atleast no body got injured that's all that matters in the end

[@joshuawheal5263]

Bloody heaps

[@krozjr5009]

Y O U ‘ L L B E G O I N G N O W H E R E

[@not_lewis2649]

ya'llbe goian nowthere

[@leonblittle226]

The 180s are total junk, and they were total junk from new. I guess the joke is how many oranges does it take to look at a fault and say yep thats broke probably have to get it some assistance forward. 4 hours laters and 404,000 hours of delays someone does something productive.

[@emt43043]

Anglo Fire so is your channel

[@leonblittle226]

@@emt43043 My channel is empty you obvious insect

[@mateuszkaliszewski3746]

Train need skip station

[@CosgroveNotts]

Lol seems to be a lot of clueless suits. Omg. then there is the dominated sand man 😂

[@qui8495]

You'll be going nowhere :]

[@adamstrainvideos]

Wish that you put the meme in the video....

[@rogerhunt3255]

So called engineers seem clueless ,looking but not doing ,looks like steam to me

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Nope - it was smoke !

[@rogerhunt3255]

Foriegn crap ,English designed and built go on forever

[@bfapple]

roger hunt these were designed and built in Birmingham...

[@Spudchucker92]

What dB said...

[@underwaterdick]

@@bfapple shh, you can't educate "BriTIsH iS BeTtER" or "ForEIgN RubBiSh" types. Two years later and people say the same uneducated thing about today's units built in Britain by firms that originated abroad.

[@underwaterdick]

Well not really, British stuff wasn't designed to last forever, much of the old stuff is falling apart and held together by bits that the fitters can cobble together. Years of cost cutting and lack of investment mean we had no choice but to run ageing British Rolling Stock.