כיבוי הדליקה בקרון הרכבתדוברות כבאות חוף

It was a normal commute home on the Israel Railways - until one of the train cars caught fire.

On Thursday afternoon, passengers were evacuated from the train due to "technical difficulties," namely a blaze in one of the cars. The train stopped between the northern cities of Pardes Hana and Hadera.

No injuries have been reported.

Firefighters rushed to the scene, and have since succeeded in extinguishing the conflagration, which was located under the carriage, near the brakes of the car.

The passengers of the damaged train have been transferred to Binyamina station, there to wait a replacement train which will take them south. Buses have also been drafted to take passengers to destinations the now-curtailed service cannot reach.

All train traffic in the area is being routed to one set of rails, while the suspect train waits to be towed back to the train yard.

Israel Railways announced that "[train] movement in the area of the incident is being directed over one track, until the train can be removed from the area. A train has been sent to pick up the passengers of the damaged train." The train had been running the Haifa-Be'er Sheva line, and was carrying hundreds of passengers at the time of the fire.

The cause of the fire has not yet been identified.

Israel Railways CEO, Boaz Tzafrir, has promised to organize an investigation task force to get to the bottom of the matter. Israel Police have opened their own, independent, investigation.