Hundreds of commuters were evacuated from Fenchurch Street station in central London as armed police cleared the area following a sighting of a man with a knife.
Officers were called to the station following reports of a robbery on board a train.
A British Transport police spokesperson said: “Officers attended the scene and carried a full search of the train, which had been traveling from Southend Central station. Fenchurch Street station was evacuated while the search was carried out. No one matching the report was found.
“The investigation into the incident continues.”
Their Essex office earlier tweeted: “Unconfirmed reports of a man on @c2c_Rail train with a knife. Officers attended & have confirmed it’s all is safe. Trains are running now.”
The station, in the south-east area of the City of London, is a key transport hub and serves east London and south Essex.
Ioanna Pierrie, a personal assistant, was on her way home from work and waiting on the platform when the station was evacuated. She said: “It was quite busy and then a really loud alarm went off and a couple of members of staff were running down the platform shouting: ‘This is not a routine check please evacuate the station now.’”
Can't believe I've just been evacuated from fenchurch street station 😩😰😰😰
— Ioanna pierrie (@ioannapierrie) August 2, 2016
Pierrie said she panicked because she heard station staff talking about an armed man. “I heard on the walkie-talkie of c2c staff that they were searching the platforms and there was talk of an armed man but I’m not too sure how true that is.
“I waited a bit outside the station and some more police arrived with guns and went inside. We were all told to stand well back from the actual station doors and all the staff were also outside.
Pierrie and the others who were evacuated were then told they should continue their journey from a different station.
Fenchurch Street has been evacuated! @c2c_Rail what's going on please? pic.twitter.com/FqLDg2KKHh
— Caroline (@garolinecreen) August 2, 2016
The station was reopened following the search, however the incident disrupted the journeys of thousands of commuters who were making their way home towards the end of rush hour, with the service to Essex severely delayed.
The company c2c Rail, who manage the station, tweeted to say: “We apologise for currently delays, this was due to police dealing with an incident earlier @ Fenchurch St.”
