A SEPTA Paoli R5 Regional Rail train caught fire on Wednesday morning that interrupted the train services temporarily. The incident occurred at around 7 a.m. when the first car was found engulfed in flames near 52nd Street and Lancaster Avenue. All 200 passengers were reported evacuated safely.

The first car of a Paoli R5 Regional Rail of ‘The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’ (SEPTA) was reported to have caught fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning, carrying as many as 200 people aboard. The unpleasant incident took place at around 7 a. m. in the West Philadelphia surroundings, when the inbound train left from the Overbrook station for Amtrak’s 30th Street Station.

When it reached at 52nd Street and Lancaster Avenue, not more than a few blocks from the Overbrook station, the flames and the smoke were noticed rising from the front car and immediately, the evacuation of the passengers was arranged. The fire also damaged the second car but luckily enough, no injuries were reported.

The reason that the train was over-crowded was that the residents of the area where the incident occurred were already encountering a bus and subway strike. Subsequently, the train services were terminated temporarily for at least 35 minutes and few main tracks such R5 Paoli-Thorndale, R6 Cynwyd and the Amtrak-Harrisburg were declared closed.

Immediately it couldn’t be learnt as to what caused the fire. The Philadelphia commuters were still not sure about the future strategies by the Septa mass transit strike which has already entered into the second day. However, the Septa did provide the commuters with some refunds.

Septa Fire