Southern Rail train catches on fire while stood at platform

The company said it has launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze in a carriage at Eastbourne station.

The fire, which started when the carriage was empty, happened at about 5am.

It caused a number of delays and cancellations to other services.

A Southern spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that around 5am there was a fire in a section of one of the coaches of an empty train, which was not in service and parked in platform 3 at Eastbourne station.

‘The track power supply was turned off while this was dealt with, leading to knock-on delays and cancellations to other Eastbourne services today, for which we apologise.

‘The train will be moved to our depot for repair and to investigate the cause.’