Festival-goers pull emergency cord and walk

Chaos ensued between Clifton Down and Redland Station on Saturday as students travelling to Tokyo World pulled the emergency alarm to escape a severely overcrowded train.

Students were forced to jump from the train and walk along the tracks in order to get back to the platform.

The incident occurred on the 2:48pm train to Stapleton Road, as students travelled to attend the popular music festival Tokyo World. An estimated 150 to 200 students attempted to get on board the two-carriage train at Clifton Down station, which was then kept waiting at the station for approximately 15 minutes.

The train eventually left the platform, only to be stopped between Clifton Down and Redland stations for approximately 25 minutes due to further overcrowding at Redland Station.

A third year computer scientist told University of Bristol student newspaper Epigram: “No-one knew what was going on, the driver made an announcement over the tannoy but no one could really hear it.”

The initially jovial atmosphere turned to fear as students inside the severely overcrowded train began to panic and chant: “Let us off, let us off!”

Describing her experience on-board the train, a third-year History student told Epigram: “It was awful, I was trapped in the corner. I’m claustrophobic so I started panicking and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. People around us were shouting to the guys nearest to the window to smash it open.”

One student jumped into the overhead luggage storage shelf to avoid the mass of people.

The emergency alarm was then pulled, and students jumped a metre from the train onto the tracks. A female student was seen lying by the side of the track after fainting and having a panic attack on-board the train.

One aerospace engineer told Epigram how he had to divert the crowd of people jumping off the train away from the ill student, fearing that she might be trampled.

He then described how students ran away from police officers as they walked down the tracks towards the train, causing many students to scramble up a bank and over a fence rather than walk back to the platform.

A third-year Economics student described the event as “totally surreal”.

Another third-year physicist said: “I’m glad we all got out when we did. The train driver should have either realised there were too many people and kicked us off at Clifton, or carried on to the next station before stopping.”

Julian Burnell of Network Rail said: “These individuals put themselves and others at great risk, and inconvenienced hundreds of other people. The railway is a hazardous environment, which is why railway trespass is a criminal offence, carrying a maximum fine of £1,000. We will be assisting the British Transport Police in their enquiries.”

This article originally appeared on the Epigram. All pictures from Epigram.