First Capital Connect - Incidents

Incidents

In September 2010, First Capital Connect admitted in an email that despite being trained in first aid, staff were not allowed to offer medical help to members of the public. An incident was reported by the BBC after a passenger collapsed and FCC's station staff would not help.

In October 2010, passengers trapped on a failed train near Cambridge gave up waiting, forced the train doors open and walked up the line to the nearby Foxton station.

On 26 May 2011 at 18.27, passengers were trapped on a failed Class 377 train between St Pancras International (Low Level) and Kentish Town stations, forming the 16.30 Brighton to Bedford. Another train of the same type was sent to assist the failed train, and was eventually coupled to it at 20.20 but by this time passengers had used the emergency release handles to open the train doors in an attempt to improve ventilation (the air-conditioning and lighting systems were no longer functioning). The train began to move at 21.03 but this movement was immediately stopped because passengers were getting out on to the railway from the carriages within the tunnel. The passengers were escorted back onto the train, which was authorised to move forward again at 21.12. Three sets of doors towards the rear of the train were still fully open while it travelled approximately a mile to Kentish Town, where all passengers left the train. First Capital Connect admitted a number of failings in the way in which it handled this incident, including a need to improve communications with passengers.