A pensioner suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a DART train while walking along the railway line between Pearse and Tara Street stations on New Year’s Day in 2021, an inquest has heard.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard that CCTV footage had captured Louis Doyle, 68, a single man from Mercer House, Mercer Street Upper, Dublin 2, walking off the platform onto the track after alighting from a DART at Tara Street at 7.55pm.
Garda Fiona Deely, who led the investigation into Mr Doyle’s death, said it appeared the victim had missed his stop at Pearse and had made “a perilous decision” to walk back along the track towards Pearse, where he was known to sometimes sleep in the station.
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A post-mortem report, which found Mr Doyle died from multiple fractures and severe damage to several organs, also revealed a high level of alcohol in his body.
The inquest heard the stretch of track between the two stations was dangerous as there is a very limited area to stand safely to avoid any passing train.
The fatal incident occurred where the track was at its narrowest on a railway bridge over Pearse Street.
The inquest heard the railway line between Pearse and Tara Street was closed after DART driver, David Walsh, reported seeing what he thought might be a body close to the track between the two stations shortly after 9.39pm.
An Iarnród Éireann station controller, Philip Cox, described finding a body “curled up like a ball” that appeared to have suffered a number of injuries.
Mr Cox said it was such a dangerous stretch of track that the line always had to be closed between the two stations if staff had to work in the area.
He said “Keep off Tracks” signs were also posted on the platforms at both Pearse and Tara Street to warn passengers of the danger.
The inquest heard 11 trains that had passed the location over a two-hour period were grounded to facilitate an inspection by gardaí.
Garda Daniel McCarthy, a scene of crime investigator, said a piece of human flesh or tissue was subsequently discovered on the first train that travelled along the line in a northerly direction after Mr Doyle was seen walking back towards Pearse.
The driver of the DART, Leon Kirby, testified that he had noticed “nothing out of the ordinary” on any service he had operated that evening.
The coroner, Clare Keane, was told CCTV footage from the train appeared to capture a “silhouette” of someone standing beside the train and attempting to shelter themselves from the oncoming DART.
Garda McCarthy said the area was poorly lit and it would have been extremely difficult for a train driver to see anyone standing to the side of the track.
He said the railway line between the two stations was also treacherously icy that evening as there were sub-zero temperatures.
In a statement, a friend of the deceased, Stephen Hyland, said he had met Mr Doyle at Glasthule DART station earlier that evening and they had drunk a bottle and a naggin of vodka together in the space of an hour and a half.
Mr Hyland said his friend suffered a bad cut to his head after falling as they walked back to the train station in Dún Laoghaire.
He recalled asking two teenagers who helped Mr Doyle back to his feet to keep an eye on him on the DART.
Mr Hyland said he received three calls from his friend between 7.35pm and 7.55pm in which Mr Doyle said he did not know where he was as he had blacked out from drinking.
The victim’s brother, David Doyle, gave evidence of formally identifying his brother’s body to gardaí.
Mr Doyle said he had not seen his brother for a number of years before his death as he had a distant relationship with his family because of “drinking issues.”
A jury of four men and two women returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
Ms Keane said it was a harrowing case that consisted of “a lethal combination of events.”
The coroner said the fatal incident had occurred at a narrow point on the line in slippy, icy, dark conditions, while Mr Doyle’s judgement was possibly severely impaired by his level of intoxication as well as from the head injury he had suffered a few hours earlier.
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