Passengers had to wait on the tracks, some until 1 a.m., because there was marsh and forest on either side. (Submitted by Jeff Enfield) Hundreds of Via Rail passengers fled a train on Ottawa's southwest outskirts after it caught fire Sunday night.

The fire broke out in the engine of Train 46 from Toronto at about 8:15 p.m. ET. The Ottawa-bound train was about three kilometres from the level crossing at McBean Street, just south of the town of Richmond, which is now part of Ottawa, Via Rail reported.

The train had left Toronto at 3:35 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive at the Ottawa train station at 8:11 p.m.

No one was seriously hurt, but the two crew members suffered from smoke inhalation and the 323 passengers were forced to stand and wait for more than an hour before they could board air-conditioned Ottawa transit buses.

"It was a very remote area and very swampy," said sector fire Chief Gerry Pingitore. "There was no light and the mosquitoes were terrible."

The cause of the blaze was still under investigation Monday.

Heather Avon, who was on the train with her son Andrew, said lights started flickering in the cabin just past Smiths Falls. Then she smelled burning rubber.

"Within minutes, they'd stopped the train and let us know that the engine had caught fire."

Julia Lipinska was in the second-last car when she noticed the smoke and flickering lights.

"We started to see black smoke streaming along the side of the train as the train was still moving," she said Monday.

The lights went out and the train stopped, but the public address system wasn't working because there was no electricity on board. People in the train started getting their bags down and moving to the aisle, Lipinska said.

Heather Avon, who was on the train with her son Andrew, said lights started flickering in the cabin just past Smiths Falls. Then she detected a smell like burning rubber. (Stéphane Beaudoin/CBC)Then they overheard on a crew member's walkie-talkie that the train's engine was on fire, and staff started shouting for people to open the door and get off the train.

People had trouble getting the door open, and needed further instructions from Via staff, which were shouted down from the other end of the car.

That was a tense moment, Lipinska said, as she could hear "a bit of panic" in the Via employee's voice.

Once passengers were off the train, crews told everyone to move back as far as they could.

"We were on the tracks because there was marsh and bog and heavy wood on either side … from probably 8:20 or so until quarter to 10, until we were given instructions to walk out."

Orange flames, thick smoke

Avon said passengers could see some orange flames and thick smoke.

Two engineers on the train helped evacuate the train before seeking treatment from paramedics for smoke inhalation, the Ottawa Paramedic Service reported. Both men, who are in their 40s, were sent to hospital for further assessment and were in stable condition late Sunday evening.

Thirteen passengers were also treated at the scene for minor injuries such as knee and ankle injuries, anxiety, scrapes, bug bites and allergic reactions.

Pingitore said the fire and smoke were between the passengers and the nearest intersection, so firefighters had to extinguish the fire before passengers could start leaving.

A few passengers walked out to the waiting buses, but most were transported by pickup trucks that can drive on the rails, the Ottawa Paramedic Service said.

Passenger Jeff Enfield said there were long delays because there were only two such trucks and some people didn't arrive at the level crossing until 1 a.m.

"By this time, Via had no way of knowing who was accounted for on the buses, who had already left on earlier buses, who had made arrangements to get a ride from that crossing, or who was unaccounted for," he said in an email, adding that at one point, at least one unaccompanied child was not accounted for.

The train had just left Smiths Falls and was on its way to Ottawa at about 8:15 p.m. (Stéphane Beaudoin/CBC)The fire department had called five OC Transpo articulated buses, which eventually dropped the passengers off at Fallowfield and Ottawa stations.

Enfield said passengers received only a credit for the amount of their ticket as compensation.

"Quite frankly, this is a slap in the face," he said, adding that many passengers were forced to pay extra expenses as a result of the ordeal. For example, he needed to take a taxi to collect his luggage from one of the train stations.

Via Rail said it also provided customers with a free round-trip ticket for the route they were travelling.

Enfield also criticized Via Rail for what he felt was a lack of preparedness for such an emergency.

"I feel that Via could find themselves in deep trouble had this happened in a more dangerous condition such as cold winter weather."

The fire also affected another train leaving Toronto, due at the Ottawa station at 11:45 p.m., Via Rail reported. That train couldn't make it past Smiths Falls because the tracks were blocked by the earlier train, and passengers were taken from Smiths Falls to Ottawa by bus.