An engineering train was completely hollowed out after catching fire near a station on Friday.

It took six fire engines to put out the blaze, which brought the train to a stop close to Dunton Green station just out of Sevenoaks, Kent.

Two crew members were aboard the train, which was out on maintenance works, and managed to escape unhurt after hearing the fire alarm go off.

The fire was reported just after 5am and brought under control by 8am, but passengers faced disruption for much of the day.

Dark plumes of smoke could be seen billowing out of the train in footage uploaded by an engineer who attended the scene.

Trains between Charing Cross in London and Ramsgate were diverted and anyone travelling between Sevenoaks and Orpington had to wait for replacement buses.

Engineers moved the burnt-out wreck to a sidings and made sure the track was safe to use for other trains.

Further delays were caused when machine which restores the level of the track was damaged and had to be moved.

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Both lines between Sevenoaks and Orpington were out of action until 2pm, affecting up to three dozen services in total, Network Rail said.

A spokesperson said services are back to normal and the fire is being ‘fully investigated to work out what happened.

‘We’re sorry for the disruption this has caused.’

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