Dozens of passengers evacuated from train 'filled with smoke and strange smell'

Forty passengers have had to be evacuated from a train after carriages started filling with "smoke and a strange smell".

Fire crews rushed to the ScotRail train - which left Inverness at 5.36am today - after smoke appeared. The train was halted between Gleneagles and Dunblane, with passengers taken off and transferred to another service for Perth, with tickets valid for rail replacement transport.

ScotRail said services between Glasgow Queen Street and Inverness/Aberdeen, and Edinburgh Waverley and Inverness may face alterations and delays.

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A passenger, Sarah MacMath, 35, told the BBC: "We did notice there was a bit of a funny smell from Aviemore or Kingussie - just a strange smell.

"I dozed off and woke up when the train stopped near Gleneagles and there was quite a lot of smoke in the carriage. The person then came over the loud speaker and asked us to either move to the end carriage or the first carriage. At that point, I stood up and there was a pretty heavy smell of smoke and there was quite a lot of it in the carriage."

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail's service delivery director, confirmed that passengers were evacuated safely. He said: "The 05:36 Inverness to Glasgow Queen Street service was brought to a stop near Gleneagles this morning after reports of smoke being detected in one of the carriages.

"Our immediate priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone on board, and customers have been safely assisted from the train."

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