TfL staff criticised over inaction during viral Northern Line smoke panic last year as report says they failed to learn lesson from similar incident a decade earlier

TfL staff have been criticised for their inaction when a tube train filled with smoke - causing panicked passengers to smash their way out of the carriages themselves. 

Builders with hammers smashed a tube carriage's windows on Friday, May 5, last year, after the train filled with smoke and passengers were left trapped after the 'doors wouldn't open'.

A report released on Wednesday by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) also said lessons had not been learned from a similar incident a decade earlier at Holland Park in 2013. 

During the incident last year, around 500 people had escaped the train by the time firefighters arrived and confirmed there was not a fire. At the time, British Transport Police said the issue with the train was caused by 'brake dust, which can often be confused with burning'.

Footage from Clapham Common underground station showed passengers rammed against the doors as people on the outside tried to pry them open at around 5.50pm.

Tech sales worker Jake Sharp, 32, was on his way to see friends in central London when he saw the carnage unfold and told MailOnline at the time that TfL staff's response was 'horrific'.

The RAIB's report found that passengers 'perceived a significant risk from fire' and started to get 'increasingly alarmed when the doors remained closed'.

It added that commuters 'did not receive suitable information or see any effective action from London Underground staff'.

TfL workers, it said, had not been given 'procedures or training needed to effectively identify and manage incidents where passenger behaviour can rapidly escalate'.

Last year, Mr Sharp told MailOnline: 'There was a smell of smoke on the train, the train went down about five carriages into the tunnel and stopped, the train on the opposite side pulled in and people were running to get off the platform.

'The whole time the carriages were filling with smoke and the doors did not or would not open and when we tried to open them they only opened maybe 10cm. 

'Thanks to the workman on the platform on their way home they had hammers and other tools to smash all the windows for everyone to get out.

'[There was] no response from station staff at all even with everyone's screams for help.'

He added: 'TfL should be ashamed! The response from station staff was horrific!'

Andrew Hall, the RAIB's chief inspector of rail accidents, said: 'Out-of-course events can rapidly escalate into emergencies if not responded to promptly and effectively.

'During this incident staff didn't fully appreciate the emerging safety risk when passengers' behaviour began to escalate as they became increasingly anxious.

'When passengers did not receive suitable information about the nature of the incident and the actions they should take, nor see action they would have expected to be taken, they turned to desperate measures to self-evacuate.

'RAIB investigated a similar incident at Holland Park in 2013... However, it was subsequently removed from the training syllabus and since then knowledge of the lessons learnt may well have begun to fade.'

Nick Dent, London Underground's director of customer operations, said: 'I would like to apologise again for the distress this incident caused to customers at Clapham Common and would like to reassure Londoners that we are continuing to do all we can to ensure the safety of everyone on the Tube.

'Our commitment to safety is at the heart of everything we do, and our staff work hard to keep our customers safe in sometimes challenging circumstances. 

'We welcome any opportunities to learn lessons from incidents on our network and, following our own investigation last year, we are already making good progress on the recommendations from the RAIB. This includes changes to our training, which will be in place in the coming weeks.'