Hundreds Unexpectedly Evacuate SEPTA Regional Rail Train After Electrical Scare
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- About 500 SEPTA riders put themselves in harm's way when they evacuated a train in between stops in Center City during rush hour.
An electrical breaker tripped two times, making a loud bang, and that spooked passengers. They hastily popped out windows on the train car and evacuated onto the tracks.
"For that reason, we had to stop train service completely through Center City," explained SEPTA's Scott Sauer.
One person tweeted a photo showing people walking on train tracks after leaving the Paoli line.
So some of us just jumped off the Paoli Septa train because there was a panic about non-existent fire. pic.twitter.com/DgbVecLHNw
— Jeanine Heck (@j9heck) September 27, 2017
Sauer says there was no smoke or fire and, most importantly, no announcement from the train operator to disembark.
"We really would prefer that the customers stay on the train and wait for instructions," he said.
Service was shut down for more than an hour and everyone was loaded on to another train to finish their commute. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
"All of our train crews did a real nice job under difficult conditions to try to control what could have been a chaotic and dangerous situation."
Service resumed back to normal Thursday morning.