A railway worker was struck and killed by a train travelling at 76mph while using an unsafe system of lookouts linked to two other deaths, a report found. Tyler Byrne, 30, became "distracted" while working on the track and was hit by the passenger train, investigators said today.
He may have not noticed his dangerous position as he showed a colleague how to inspect the line near Surbiton station, south west London, according to the findings released today. Investigators said trains were still running during the planned inspection using single lookouts to spot advancing trains - a system that should have been scrapped but was still being widely used when the accident happened, according to a new report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).
The South Western Railway train driver, who had 18 years' experience, sounded a warning horn twice as the vehicle approached Mr Byrne, but no one could remember hearing it, the report added. Bosses at the depot where he worked were said to have known about two previous fatalities in Wales but still used the outdated system of unassisted lookouts to spot advancing trains, the RAIB said.
