A RAIL passenger, killed when a fire broke out in a toilet of a commuter train this evening, is believed to have committed suicide.

British Transport Police (BTP) said the 43-year-old was travelling on the London-bound train at around 5pm when the blaze occurred.

Another passenger alerted the conductor to the fire on the London Midland-operated service, which had left Northampton at 4.25pm.

The train pulled into Leighton Buzzard station in Bedfordshire where the other passengers alighted safely. No one else was hurt.

A spokeswoman for BTP, which was alerted at 5.07pm, said: “The deceased woman has injuries consistent with burns.

“No other person is believed to have been involved in the incident and it is not being treated as an accident.”

Overhead power lines on the busy West Coast main line were switched off for a time as BTP, firefighters and the ambulance service attended the scene.

There were no trains able to enter or leave Euston station, but by 7pm services were beginning to run again, albeit with delays.

London Midland initially put on bus services to replace trains. West Coast operator Virgin Trains had its rush-hour services badly disrupted and delays continued into the night.