Fire crews are tackling a blaze on board a passenger train at Cupar railway station – disrupting the main railway line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 5.45am on Wednesday.
It is understood to have involved a Caledonian Sleeper service, but it is not known if any passengers were on board at the time.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are in attendance at Cupar railway station where a passenger train is on fire. The fire is located in the front carriage.
“It’s not confirmed if there were any passengers onboard at the time.”
Disrupted train services from Aberdeen to Edinburgh
The railway line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh has been disrupted and customers are advised replacement transport has been put in place.
ScotRail has announced on social media that services north of Dundee should not be impacted by the fire at Cupar.
It tweeted: “We’re going to divert our Edinburgh-Aberdeen trains that (run) via Perth wherever we can. This will add some time to your journey, but it will remove the need to travel by bus.”
However, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has cancelled the train scheduled to leave Aberdeen at 7.52am, stating that replacement transport will be arranged.
Rail replacement transport is being arranged between #Aberdeen and #Edinburgh.
— London North Eastern Railway (@LNER) September 15, 2021
ScotRail will allow passengers with a LNER ticket to use their services, claiming that it is now only trains between Arbroath and Edinburgh that are now being affected.
UPDATE: We're really struggling to get hold of replacement buses right now – they're tied up on school runs mostly.
Remember that you can use your ticket on Stagecoach buses within Fife, and between Dundee & Fife.
Most trains between Fife & Edinburgh still running. ^Angus
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) September 15, 2021
A fire service spokesman said: “There was an electrical fire underneath the first carriage of the train. Our crews used two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire. We sent three appliances.
“We arrived at 5.46am and the stop message came in at 7.26am. “We left the scene at 8.10am.”