Translink has apologised for a “mechanical fault” on the Belfast to Dublin Enterprise train that led to “panic” among passengers who saw smoke rising in the carriages.
The incident led to the train being delayed for around an hour outside Newry on Thursday morning.
The train, powered by a diesel locomotive, had departed Belfast at 7am and collected passengers in Newry around 50 minutes later.
However, around three minutes after departing Newry station, some passengers noticed an issue in the rear carriages.
One passenger who boarded at Newry told The Irish News that he was sitting in the second-to-last carriage when he noticed what he described as an “acrid smell”.
“It was similar to the smell of a burning clutch in a car, it was caustic, and we began to worry,” said the passenger, who did not wish to be named.
“We then saw what appeared to be smoke floating through the carriage, and a Translink staff member passed through, running to the front of the train. That’s when people in the carriage started panicking.”
The man said a fellow passenger activated the emergency stop button to signal to the driver there was a problem.
“At this stage my breathing was affected and there was a real sense of confusion as we didn’t know what to do, and there was no direction from staff.”
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The train halted close to the border area and the passengers waited for over an hour before they were told the train would continue to Dundalk, where they would transfer to another train to continue the journey.
The passenger said they eventually pulled into Dublin’s Connelly Station around two hours later than scheduled.
“It was honestly pretty scary with the fumes and smoke. I normally travel by train to commute to Dublin from Newry, but to be honest, I’d rather face the Dublin rush hour traffic than experience that again.”
The incident comes weeks after Monday to Saturday Enterprise trains between Belfast’s new Grand Central Station and Dublin increased to 15 services in each direction, with eight services each way on Sundays.
A Translink spokesperson said the train “experienced a mechanical fault just outside Newry”.
“Safety is our top priority. Once full safety checks were undertaken, the train continued to Dundalk where passengers were transferred to other services,” they said.
“We apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience.”
