An urgent warning has been issued to London Underground drivers after the 72-year-old was found to have been mistaken for an ‘inflatable doll’ before being crushed by four Tube trains
Tube drivers have been warned they need to pay ‘close attention’ after a pensioner was crushed to death by four trains when he was mistaken for an inflatable doll.
Brian Mitchell, 72, fell onto the tracks at Stratford London Underground station and was run over by multiple trains before being spotted by platform staff. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
A coroner has now ruled that his death on Boxing Day 2023 could have been avoided – and has urged train drivers to pay closer attention to the tracks when working with partially automated driving systems, such as the one in use on the Jubilee line.
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CCTV footage of the incident showed the Edinburgh man, who is thought to have been intoxicated at the time, step off a train and sit on a bench. Moments later, he appeared to lurch ‘towards the edge of the platform’, reports My London.
Mr Mitchell then “moved and tried to climb back onto the deserted platform”, according to a prevention of future deaths report addressed to Transport for London (TfL), but was hit by an oncoming train. His presence was not noticed by the driver, and the train reversed out of the station over him a few seconds later.
Two further trains then entered and left the platform, running over him twice. Graeme Irvine, senior coroner for east London, said a member of staff “unsuccessfully tried to prevent” a fourth train crushing Mr Mitchell as it entered the platform.
His prevention of future deaths report, published yesterday, dealt with safety concerns around the Automatic Train Operation (ATO) system used on Jubilee line trains, which automates acceleration and braking by default. The coroner found that train operators should pay close attention to the train and tracks in front of them, and override the ATO system if they see an obstruction on the tracks.
Mr Irvine said: “The track layout would have allowed Brian’s presence to have been noticed by an attentive train operator. Additionally, it was asserted that a train operator would have had sufficient time to react and bring the train to a stop many metres before Brian’s location.
“The court heard that these omissions may have resulted from the fact that Platform 13 is a terminus platform which could result in a lowered level of attention on the part of train operators. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.”
Noting that recommended technology to detect passenger falls onto tracks had still not been installed at Stratford station since Mr Mitchell’s death, the coronresaid: “In the two years that have elapsed since Brian’s death investigations have been conducted by the British Transport Police, The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (‘RAIB’) and TfL into the circumstances that led to this incident. There is no clear evidence to demonstrate that risks of fatal harm have been mitigated.”
“Recommended technological measures to detect and alert staff to the presence of persons on the tracks have not been implemented at Stratford station,” Mr Irvine added. He also noted: “No clear data is available to demonstrate that training provided to train operators (drivers) to ensure that they concentrate and look at the tracks before them whilst operating trains using ATO has resulted in positive improvement in performance.”
In addition, there is no clear data available to “demonstrate that station staff training has improved expedition or clarity of communication in emergency circumstances”. Claire Mann, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr Mitchell, who sadly died at Stratford Tube station.
“We are committed to learning from this tragic incident and assisted the coroner during the inquest. We will respond to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report and are taking action to prevent incidents like this from happening again. “
