Passengers Forced to Evacuate from E3 on High Road
Smoke seen billowing from the engine of the bus
The driver made an announcement telling passengers to get off . Picture: Dan Harriss
May 4, 2023
Passengers on an E3 travelling along Chiswick High Road on Wednesday morning (3 May) had to be evacuated from the bus after smoke was seen billowing from the engine.
The incident occurred shortly before 10:45am as the bus was moving westbound near the Fishers Lane junction. The vehicle was immobilised causing traffic delays in the area until its removal.
The bus company says that there was not a fire on the vehicle but the smoke seen was due to a fire suppression system.
A spokesperson for RATP, the company which owns London United, said, “We are aware that a fire suppression system on the E3 bus was activated at around 11am on Wednesday 3rd May 2023. We can confirm that no fire occurred and that no passengers were injured.
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So far, our investigations have identified a fault that triggered the fire extinguisher system, automatically alerting the driver. As per our standard safety procedures, the driver made an announcement to the passengers and evacuated the bus. Safety remains our utmost priority and we have taken the bus in question out of service while we address the fault.”
Video: Dan Harriss
We asked the company if the incident would need other vehicles in the fleet of the same model would need to be withdrawn for testing, but they did not respond to the question. Fire at a depot in London recently caused by an electric bus spontaneously catching fire did lead to a withdrawal for a period of other vehicles of this specific type.
London Fire Brigade says it was not called to the incident.
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