Train crash driver died from traumatic injuries

A bald man with a white beard is wearing glasses — Image caption,

Shaun Burton died in the train crash near Bedford

ByBrian Farmer, at The Court House, Ampthill and Danny Fullbrook

A train driver died from traumatic injuries to the brain and chest in the Bedfordshire train crash, an inquest has heard.

Shaun Burton, 60, died when his train ploughed into the back of another service at Elstow, near Bedford, on 19 June. It left 162 people injured, including 102 who required hospital treatment.

An inquest into the death of the driver opened in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, and has been adjourned until a later date which has not been fixed yet.

Senior Coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, Emma Whitting, told the hearing the inquest would be adjourned pending reports from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and British Transport Police.

The ends of two damaged purple trains which have crashed together. — Image caption,

The crash happened near Elstow, Bedfordshire, on 19 June

Burton lived in Cambridgeshire and previously been a parish and district councillor, representing The Stukeleys ward on Huntingdonshire District Council.

During the hearing, which lasted five minutes, the coroner’s officer read a statement which said a consultant pathologist identified the cause of death to be traumatic injuries to the brain stem and chest, pending further investigations.

Burton was pronounced dead at the scene at 18:49 BST on 19 June. He was formally identified by the Fingerprint Identification Bureau on 25 June, the coroner’s report said.

Passengers being evacuated from a crashed train on to the adjacent tracks. — Image caption,

More than 100 people needed hospital treatment

An interim report by the RAIB (RAIB) said that Burton’s East Midlands Railway train proceeded past a red signal moments before the collision.

His train had been heading towards London St Pancras, after leaving Corby, Northamptonshire, at 16:40 BST.

The other train had been travelling in the same direction and was running ahead of the Corby service, having originated in Nottingham at 15:50.

The Nottingham service had come to a stop “unexpectedly” because of a fault with its Automatic Warning System (AWS) equipment, investigators found.

Data seen by investigators showed Burton’s train’s brakes were activated for about nine seconds before the collision, when the train was travelling at about 76mph.

Its speed had reduced to 49mph when the impact happened.