Fire in Fast Train No 2613 between Kaspitchan – Provadiya South stations on 03.11.2022
On 3 November 2022, at 13:15 p.m., FT 2613 departed from Sofia station in 4 coaches, 16 axles, 159 tonnes with locomotive No 91521080041-2 with locomotive driver and assistant driver and transport crew with train master and conductor. The train run daily according to the schedule of trains in the direction Sofia – Gorna Oryahovitsa – Varna. The train was operated by the railway undertaking “BDZ – Passenger Services” EOOD, the national carrier of the Republic of Bulgaria and the rolling stock is its property.
At Kaspitchan Station, the train arrived on schedule at 19:28 p.m. and after a stay of 4 minutes it departed at 19:32 p.m. Two kilometres from Kaspitchan Station in the direction of Provadiya Station on track No 1, the locomotive driver noticed that the pressure in the main air duct was lowered to 0 bar and the train stopped. The train was stopped with the emergency brake by a passenger travelling in the second coach, he felt smell of smoke and then saw a fire in the coach. The locomotive driver saw the fire and, with an assistant locomotive driver, immediately took measures to uncouple the composition between the first and second coaches in order to prevent the fire to the first coach. After uncoupling, the driver attempted to set off, but found that the voltage in the catenary was off and the two embarked on a disconnection between the locomotive and the first coach and, with the help of passengers on the train, pushed the locomotive at a safe distance from the burning train. The train master notified the national emergency number 112 about the fire.
The fire in the coaches was extinguished at 00:30 a.m. by the authorities of the RD Fire safety and civil protection. The staff servicing the train, as well as the passengers on the train, were not injured. There were caused material damages to the railway infrastructure and to the two burned coaches of FT No 2613.
The train traffic between Kaspitchan and Provadiya stations on track No 1 was interrupted from 21:47 p.m. on 03.11. to 16:14 p.m. on 4.11.2022 and was restored on schedule.