Melbourne commuter train roof 'explodes' close to Flinders St station

Peak hour passengers have been forced to evacuate a train after an electrical fault caused an explosion on the train's roof just outside Melbourne's Flinders St station on Thursday morning.

Footage of the incident shows a large explosion close to the overhead wires with the roof of the carriage appearing to be on fire.

Commuters reportedly rushed to the back of the Metro train when its power line connectors exploded. The top of the first carriage saw the impact of the spark, with passengers having to move to the third carriage to move away from it.

The train was stopped between Batman Ave and Flinders Street Station, on the Sandringham line.

However, the Melbourne Fire Brigade has denied there was a fire on the train.

A spokeswomen said, "It was an overhead wire issue, it was electrical, the train was not on fire." Firefighters arrived after the train's power connectors exploded first at 7.21am, and then again about 20 minutes later.

A Metro Trains spokeswoman said there had been an "issue" on a train between Richmond and Flinders Street and announced delays of around 45 minutes to the Sandringham line.

Commuters tweeting from the stricken train labelled the incident another #metrofail.

off we get #metrotrains @metrotrains #metrofail pic.twitter.com/48P85pORPM

— Nathaniel Bane (@natbane) August 2, 2017

Electricians are on site and Metro said they were hoping to restore power shortly.