Man run over and killed by train sent to look for him in urgent station warning

A man was killed after being hit by a train that police had sent to search for him.

Robert English died in May last year having being electrocuted when the power supply to a section of track between Hendon Central and Burnt Oak London Underground stations was switched on. At the inquest into his death, a coroner has raised concerns about lighting on railway tracks.

The 32-year-old had been walking down the railway in the dark after two police officers had followed him into Colindale station having thought he may be unwell and were seeking to contain him, the inquest heard. In a prevention of future deaths report, senior coroner for north London Andrew Walker noted that Mr English “may have been confused by the actions of the police” and ran to the platform, where officers tried to contain him, before leaving.

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The local station manager then asked for the power supply to the track to be turned off. Officers saw him climb up part of a fence but were unable to say if he had climbed over, while members of the public gave police the impression that Mr English had left the track and was in the park, the report said.

As officers left to search for Mr English in the park, the station manager confirmed to a service manager that police had left, Mr English was “nowhere to be seen” and that police said he had climbed over the fence and left the tracks, according to the report.

The service manager then asked the local station manager to contact the controller on his behalf so the power for the track could be switched on. Mr English, who had walked around 400 to 600 metres along the track from Colindale station, was electrocuted when the power supply was turned back on and later run over by a train that was sent to look for him.

In the report, the coroner noted that the train “was not adequately equipped to conduct such a search in darkness and this response was inadequate”. The report continued: “The requirements within the rule book when switching the power supply to the rails were not followed in particular telling all the relevant people that the power supply to the rails is about to be switched on.

“This would have given the police and British Transport Police an opportunity to confirm that Mr English had not been found and was likely still on the railway side of the tracks. It is likely that had this step been followed the power supply would not have been switched on and a proper search, which was also possible, is likely to have found Mr English and returned him safely to the station.”

Mr Walker highlighted areas of concern including lack of suitable lighting on the tracks at night. He wrote: “The provision to protect a trespasser at night are the same as those during the day. The ability to locate a person close to or on the railway lines at night is made more difficult by the absence of suitable lights on the track or the train.

“In this case Mr English was not seen and run over by the train that has been asked to look for a person on the line.”

The coroner wrote that, in his opinion, there was a risk that further deaths could occur unless action was taken to address the concerns.

The inquest concluded that Mr English’s death was a consequence “of a failure to follow the proper process to recover a person from a stretch of railway”. A copy of the report, published on Tuesday, was sent to the Department of Transport, Transport for London and the Rail Safety Board.

Claire Mann, Transport for London’s chief operating officer, said: “Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Robert English following his tragic death last year. We are committed to working with policing partners and reviewing our own operational practices to learn from this incident.

“We undertook a formal investigation of the incident and assisted the coroner during the inquest. We are thoroughly reviewing the Coroner’s prevention of future deaths report before responding in full and will consider any appropriate actions to make the transport network as safe as possible.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Robert English. We are considering the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report.”