Police halt rail getaway

First Edition

PASSENGERS were trapped on a train with armed robbers - and armed police - for an hour yesterday, as the robbers tried to escape from a hold-up.

The train was brought to a halt with its doors sealed. Armed police boarded and carried out a carriage-by-carriage search. One passenger said police with guns 'burst on to the train and told everyone to get down on the deck'.

The hold-up took place just after noon when two men, one armed with a pistol, threatened staff at the National Provincial building society on Wimbledon Bridge in south-west London.

The robbers made off with pounds 800, fled 50 yards to Wimbledon railway station and leapt on a train for central London.

The train, with about 35 passengers on board, was stopped by police just outside North Dulwich station, south-east London. Two suspects were arrested and taken to nearby Peckham police station.