Two men have been arrested after a woman was allegedly pushed on to the rails at a train station after a row over smoking on the platform.

Linda Buchanan, 58, suffered a broken wrist and bruising to her legs after she confronted two men who were smoking at Farningham Road station.

The businesswoman narrowly missed a 750-volt live rail as she fell on to the tracks and was hauled out by fellow commuters before the next train was due to arrive at the station near Swanley in Kent.

A 30 year-old man was arrested in Dartford on Monday night before being questioned and then released on bail yesterday.

Last night a second man, 18, was also arrested in Dartford. He was in police custody being interviewed today.

On the afternoon of the attack Mrs Buchanan, who is a senior consultant for the American-owned company DBM, said: “I just feel I’m lucky to be alive. It could have been a lot worse than it is and I’m just shocked by the whole experience.”

She had asked two men to stop smoking on the platform twice in the week of the attack. Smoking is prohibited on all railway platforms in England under the ban introduced last April.

Police said she was “very lucky” not to have been more seriously injured.

Chief Superintendent Steve Morgan, of the British Transport Police, said today: “While this was an abhorrent incident, this type of offence on the rail network is extremely rare.

“Officers in this case have spent many days trawling through CCTV from stations between Farningham Rd and Victoria and have taken numerous witness statements from members of the public.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those members of the public who came forward and provided us with invaluable information to assist us in this investigation.”

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