Man dies on trainline

Annabel Williams • Published 3 Jun 2008 11:50 0 Comments

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A MAN died when he was hit by a freight train going through Tilehurst Station in the early hours of Saturday, May 31.

The 47-year-old man, who has yet to be identified but is from the Reading area, was struck at 1.18am.

The driver of the freight train stopped at Pangbourne Station and reported that he had felt a bump as he had travelled through Tilehurst Station. The collision was witnessed by the driver of a train coming the other way.

PC Bob Burrowes, based at British Transport Police's Reading branch, says officers are not looking for anyone in connection with the incident, and that the man's body was taken to Royal Berkshire Hospital by ambulance.

He added that there was "minimal disruption" to passenger trains on the line because of the time of the incident, with the timetable for freight trains returning to normal within an hour.

PC Burrowes said: "British Transport Police get about 365 incidents of people being hit by trains a year, so about one a day, whether that be deliberate or accidental or whatever.

"In the Reading area, we tend to get it happening in bursts, there will be nothing then three or four in a week."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 05 Jun 08

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