There were no casualties, a spokesman said, adding the station was being re-opened.

The train was a Gatwick Express service linking central London to the international airport at Gatwick, south of the capital. The train operator said on its Twitter feed that the fire had been put out.

It and other companies operating trains in and out of Victoria - a major transport hub - issued warnings of delays and disruption.

The Victoria incident comes a day after a helicopter clipped a crane and crashed into a road in central London during Wednesday's rush hour, killing two people and causing traffic chaos. Traffic in the Vauxhall area, which is a short distance from Victoria, was still disrupted on Thursday morning.

Thursday's incident caused a flurry of tweets from stressed-out Londoners. "Helicopter crash yesterday and now Gatwick Express on fire at Victoria. What is happening #londonsburning" asked one commuter.