NTSB releases new details on SEPTA train fire that led to evacuation of 329 people

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Wednesday on a fire that consumed part of a six-car SEPTA train last month in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

The train was traveling from West Trenton, New Jersey, to Newark, Delaware, with 325 passengers and four crew members when it went up in flames near the Crum Lynne Station on February 6.

No injuries were reported. SEPTA estimates the damages to equipment to be about $10 million.

RELATED: NTSB investigating after SEPTA train bursts into flames near station in Ridley Park, Pa.

On the day of the incident, when the train was at Bethayres Station, officials say an engineer contacted SEPTA's Regional Rail Operations Control Center (RROCC) at about 3:50 p.m. to report the train being "sluggish and not getting up to speed, and that a fault light on the train was on."

A mechanical maintenance team completed an inspection at about 4:31 p.m. at SEPTA's Roberts Yard, revealing that three railcars, including the one that went up in flames, were "bad" and the "cause of the slow acceleration," the NTSB notes in the report.

However, the train continued to operate.

At about 4:55 p.m., there was a crew change at Suburban Station.

When the train was at 30th Street Station, the NTSB says the train's engineer received a call at 5:07 p.m. from SEPTA's chief dispatcher about a strong burning smell in the lead railcar (railcar 132).

The train continued to operate on its route, officials said.

Passengers previously told Action News they smelled smoke leaving 30th Street.

"I could smell a weird smoky, sulfury smell," recalled Cynthia Kayati of Smyrna, Delaware. "I thought it was the train, normal stuff, but it was getting really strong especially as we got to Crum Lynne."

"I started to smell it too after a little while. I think we got two stations down from here and then people were really starting to notice it, starting to panic a little bit," added Alvan Hurley of Newark.

The train traveled past nine stops before conductors onboard evacuated everyone near the Crum Lynne station. As it approached the station in Ridley Park at about 5:48 p.m., haze behind the lead railcar was noticed, followed by smoke as it departed, officials said.

The train was stopped about 638 feet south of Crum Lynne Station when the fire was reported at 5:56 p.m.

All passengers and crew members were evacuated by 6:22 p.m., and the fire was extinguished at 8:09 p.m., the NTSB said.

An investigation is still underway into several factors, including the source of the fire, the electrical wiring, SEPTA's railcar inspection, and RROCC's response to en route train failures.

(Editor's note: Officials originally stated 350 people were on board the train when it caught fire.)