Railway suicides - a sensitive question

[ChristopherJ]

This is a sensitive question, but it has been bugging me for years - so I'm determined to ask now.

When there is a railway suicide or 'person hit by a train' which authority is responsible for cleaning up the human debris - otherwise known as the body remnants?

The obvious answer is Network Rail, so is there an elite team tasked with cleaning up body remnants from the aftermath of a 'one under'? What is their job position and where are they based?

Considering a railway suicide can happen anywhere - from Wick to Penzance or anywhere in between - how does this team travel to the sites of (sometimes) multiple incidents per day?

I know London Underground have a team called the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) but are they responsible for suicide clean up and what is the Network Rail equivalent?

Sorry to spoil your dinner.

Baz.

 

[Volvictof]

Well the first person on scene escorting the emergency services should be a MOM (Mobile Operations Manager) they are generally the dogsbody who go and deal with anything and everything that needs boots on the ground trackside, and they wear many hats.

In an incident like this the MOM will probably become a RIO (Rail Incident Officer). It may fall to them to organise the cleanup.

Police will probably take away the bulk of the leftovers and a sweep should be done by network rail staff, but the nature of the railway makes it easy for smaller pieces so get lost in the undergrowth.

Someone should try to clean up any blood too, but since water supply is often difficult to get to, I’ve seen sawdust placed down and even seen fire extinguishers sprayed in an attempt to hide/wash away the mess.

Once the train is in back the depot it will need cleaned off too and that’s when some parts are found.

I think the likelihood is that the local foxes and birds will carry some parts off.

 

[AlbertBeale]

In general - ie non-railway situations - I believe it's the Fire Brigade who deal with that sort of gruesome stuff after an accident. Maybe they're also involved in the case of a railway incident? After all, they exist everywhere, and it's probably part of their training.

In domestic settings, if someone has been found after they've been dead for ages, and the situation is rather messier than just "a regular corpse", there are specialist companies that local councils employ to go into this sort of situation.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I believe a contractor is also used,the name escapes me at the moment.

 

[66701GBRF]

Network Rail are not responsible for the actual clean up. That falls to the emergency services and separate railway contractors (Dignity and Ambipar)

​

 

[Undiscovered]

The body recovery is contracted to a firm called Dignity.
They're a company who own lots of funeral directors. They're called on a central number, and they then mobilise a local Funeral Director to send a team out to collect the deceased.

Spoiler: A bit more technical detail, but not anything gory or graphic.

Police usually assist with collecting up any parts scattered around. They're placed in a heavy duty body bag and strspped to a foldable stretcher. Personal items may be removed and secured by Police at this point, body bag may be sealed with a numbered tag for security.

If there's long distances to be walked to access points etc, generally everyone present will help to lift the stretcher and carry equipment across the ballast to and from the scene.
The body is then transported, by the Funeral Directors, with Police accompanying, to the local hospital/forensic hospital mortuary, depending on the circumstances deemed by Police. Body is lodged there by Police for continuity in investigations going forward.

 

[The Puddock]

British Transport Police are responsible for recovering the body and any disrupted body parts into the body bag and handing it over to the funeral director at the access gate. The funeral director will be a local subcontractor to Dignity and are requested through Network Rail’s National Operations Centre. The funeral director’s staff aren’t allowed on the infrastructure, so the body must be brought to them and there is a special rail mounted stretcher for doing so. For complex body recovery, where body parts are physically stuck in, under or on a train, BTP officers with extra training are required and these incidents take a lot longer to recover. They may need to remove bits of the train to access the body and the fire service may get involved at that stage.

Any bio-clean of remaining non recognisable body matter and blood will be done by a specialist contractor and there are a few of these in different areas of the country. These days the fire service will not generally attend to ‘wash down’ after a fatality, that is an old practice which doesn’t really happen any more. Basically it’s not very desirable or in keeping with the dignity of the dead to have bits of body matter being flushed down the drain, that’s why the specialist bio-clean contractor is engaged.

The MOM is there to act as Rail Incident Officer - i.e. act as the liasion between the rail industry and the emergency services. They are strictly not meant to get hands on involved in the recovery of body parts but I know some old school types still do. I have certainly helped carry the bag before when acting as RIO at fatalities but I draw the line at picking up bits. It’s bad enough picking up someone’s pet dog, never mind an actual person. The BTP officers who carry out the actual body recovery are paid an allowance per incident for doing so.

 

[172007]

Duplication from points made above.

 

[BrummieBobby]

As a signaller who has dealt with these types of incidents several times, its Dignity who act as the initial funeral directors. Officially the MOM acting as RIO is there to secure the area, confirm blocking points with the controlling signaller, act as a single point of railway contact for the emergency services etc, it is the emergency services that handle body part removal (Although, in practice, some MOMs help with this)

It is worth noting that some "person struck by train" incidents take longer to deal with. This can be if the BTP are unsure if the death was accidental (and as such, the incident is a potential crime scene) or if it is uncertain if body parts are still unaccounted for (There are rules in the Rule Book specifically mentioning the fact that trains cannot resume if there are body parts that can be seen by passengers from a passenger train, although the site can be blocked by a freight / ECS train if appropriate and if the driver agrees to this move)

Also worth noting that in some areas, Network Rail now employ MIOs (Major Incident Officers) to deal specifically with these and selected other major incidents. These will usually be staff that have worked as MOMs and hold the same competencies.

 

[The Puddock]

Also worth noting that in some areas, Network Rail now employ MIOs (Major Incident Officers) to deal specifically with these and selected other major incidents. These will usually be staff that have worked as MOMs and hold the same competencies.

MIO actually stands for 'Mobile Incident Officer' and are SUP9 grade. A MIO is paired up with a BTP officer in a BTP liveried response vehicle to form an 'Emergency Response Unit'. They are tasked through Network Rail Control and BTP Control to attend on blue lights to railway incidents that have a risk to life and limb; due to the blue lights the police constable has to drive. The ERUs are based on, and very similar to, London Underground's successful Network Incident Response Team model, which has a dedicated Network Incident Response Manager paired with a BTP officer/medic. The NIRTs supplement the Underground's ERU gangs and there is a little bit of overlap and collaborative working between LUL NIRTs/ERUs and Network Rail's ERUs for major incidents.

Officially the Network Rail MIO takes initial control of a scene and only stays at a fatality until the MOM arrives (in slow time in their 50mph limited van...) to take over RIO duties. Once the MOM has taken over as RIO the ERU team are supposed to stand down and return to patrol, although in practice the accompanying BTP officer usually gets involved in the body recovery.

The existence of ERUs is a bit of a bone of contention with the union and their MOM colleagues as they are perceived as being paid more to swan round in a police car doing very little, then disappearing as soon as the MOM arrives. Some don't hold the various Auxiliary Operating Duties competencies so can't even attend normal operating incidents such as points failures.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Until the early 1990s the Guard was expected to move the body clear of the line. If the guard thought it was suspicious then they had to mark the position of the body prior to its removal. I only saw this done once when I was a young ticket examiner,the guard came back as white as a sheet. Thankfully times (and rules) have changed.

 

[Cross City]

Did not know that the company who deal with the clean up is called Dignity, I just assumed it was a polite way of saying "funeral directors and cleaners". TIL

 

[800001]

MIO actually stands for 'Mobile Incident Officer' and are SUP9 grade. A MIO is paired up with a BTP officer in a BTP liveried response vehicle to form an 'Emergency Response Unit'. They are tasked through Network Rail Control and BTP Control to attend on blue lights to railway incidents that have a risk to life and limb; due to the blue lights the police constable has to drive. The ERUs are based on, and very similar to, London Underground's successful Network Incident Response Team model, which has a dedicated Network Incident Response Manager paired with a BTP officer/medic. The NIRTs supplement the Underground's ERU gangs and there is a little bit of overlap and collaborative working between LUL NIRTs/ERUs and Network Rail's ERUs for major incidents.

Officially the Network Rail MIO takes initial control of a scene and only stays at a fatality until the MOM arrives (in slow time in their 50mph limited van...) to take over RIO duties. Once the MOM has taken over as RIO the ERU team are supposed to stand down and return to patrol, although in practice the accompanying BTP officer usually gets involved in the body recovery.

The existence of ERUs is a bit of a bone of contention with the union and their MOM colleagues as they are perceived as being paid more to swan round in a police car doing very little, then disappearing as soon as the MOM arrives. Some don't hold the various Auxiliary Operating Duties competencies so can't even attend normal operating incidents such as points failures.

Never heard of a MIA, never heard of NWR staff travelling in blue lights with btp, and I work in a NWR control room!

In fact when ever NWR or a toc ask for a member of there team to travel with btp, it is always declined.

Is this MIA role only in certain areas of the country?

Every fatality over the last 4 years that I’ve been at work when have happened, it has always been the MOM who is first on scene and deals with it as RIO.

 

[Bald Rick]

Never heard of a MIA, never heard of NWR staff travelling in blue lights with btp, and I work in a NWR control room!

It’s been a thing since the Olympics in 2012. Certainly in the London area.

 

[800001]

It’s been a thing since the Olympics in 2012. Certainly in the London area.

Wonder if it’s a London area thing, as certainly never heard of it on LNE region.

 

[The Puddock]

Wonder if it’s a London area thing, as certainly never heard of it on LNE region.

It was trialled at the Olympics as per the post above then brought in, with posts in Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Western and Central. Scotland tried it out at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the Glasgow area but couldn’t afford to set up a permanent team. Eastern certainly used to have them (until 2021 at least) based at Finsbury Park but presumably have got rid if you’ve never heard of them.

I made a mistake in my initial post about them - I called them an Emergency Response Unit which is actually the London Underground name. Network Rail calls them ‘Emergency Intervention Unit‘ or EIU.

 

[800001]

It was trialled at the Olympics as per the post above then brought in, with posts in Kent, Sussex, Weesex, Western and Central. Eastern certainly used to (until 2021 at least) have them based at Finsbury Park but presumably have got rid if you’ve never heard of them.

I made a mistake in my post about them - I called them an Emergency Response Unit which is actually the London Underground name. Network Rail calls them ‘Emergecy Intervention Unit‘ or EIU.

Yes must only be a southern area position, as it is most certainly not something that I’ve ever heard of.
Always interesting to hear of how different regions operate.

 

[Timmyd]

Are these incidents more common nowadays? They seem to be from the number of times they are announced/posted on TOC socials, or is it just that we have more and better information on the causes of disruption these days thanks to social media and digital information screens?

 

[The Puddock]

Yes must only be a southern area position, as it is most certainly not something that I’ve ever heard of.
Always interesting to hear of how different regions operate.

From what I hear they’re ruiniously expensive because of the staffing costs, so only a few regions with the heaviest traffic (road and rail) decided they were worth it. I think I read somewhere that Western was intending to get rid of their EIUs, which were based at Slough.

Around five years ago NR was attempting to negotiate with the Home Office for ordinary MOM vehicles to be permitted to operate with blue lights, sirens and the associated traffic exemptions but that also seems to have come to nothing. The Eastern Region command unit van was actually delivered fitted with blue lights in anticipation of authorisation but they’ve maybe been removed now.

Are these incidents more common nowadays? They seem to be from the number of times they are announced/posted on TOC socials, or is it just that we have more and better information on the causes of disruption these days thanks to social media and digital information screens?

As you’ve suggested, you hear about them more these days. The industry does collect a lot of data about them and the trends but it is sensitive and isn’t shared publicly.

 

[DavyCrocket]

On the underground, generally, if the person is dead, then Ambulance and Fire will leave scene if unless there is a learning opportunity or they have some equipment that is useful.
Recovery of the person and their belongings falls to the Police. They may have to be assisted by Fire or LU Emergency Response Unit.

If the person is dead but needs to be recovered and this is not complex, LU Emergency Response Unit will usually deal, using their equipment.

If the situation is deemed as a complex recovery (by the Police Inspector, who does not need to be at scene) then this is carried out by specially trained Police officers and no other persons can be present.

A declaration of a complex recovery means that there is target time for closing of the incident, even if a complex recovery process is not carried out.


It is then in the responsibility of the Operator, in this case London Underground to clean the area. This is usually done via Emergency Response Unit, but station based cleaners can assist if they have the capability.

A train may have to be moved to allow an inspection of the area to ensure recovery of body and belongings and that the area is cleaned.

It is for silver commander to manage these situations and ensure resource.

There are then designated storage rooms on stations where a body can be stored pending arrival of the company contracted as the undertaker.

 

[Bald Rick]

Are these incidents more common nowadays? They seem to be from the number of times they are announced/posted on TOC socials, or is it just that we have more and better information on the causes of disruption these days thanks to social media and digital information screens?

Not particularly so, when taking a long term view. What does happen though is that you get a ‘spate” of them in quick succession, which makes it feel that the rate is going up.

 

[30907]

Did not know that the company who deal with the clean up is called Dignity, I just assumed it was a polite way of saying "funeral directors and cleaners". TIL

They are a major chain of funeral directors, who have expanded massively by buying out local independent firms (as at one time did the Coop). Further comment would not be relevant.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Does the question of the right to be on railway premises enter into investigations into deaths on the railway (some are accidents rather than suicides)? I was told years back by a couple of railway workers that the deceased needs to be checked to see whether he had a valid ticket; this was because of the question of insurance, which differs in respect of whether the deceased had permission to be on railway property or was trespassing. Is any of this true, or was I misinformed?

 

[tspaul26]

Is this MIA role only in certain areas of the country?

There aren’t many and they’re generally found on B division i.e. London and Southeast.

In fact when ever NWR or a toc ask for a member of there team to travel with btp, it is always declined.

Our driving standards policy does not permit us to carry ‘passengers’ in these circumstances.

Does the question of the right to be on railway premises enter into investigations into deaths on the railway (some are accidents rather than suicides)? I was told years back by a couple of railway workers that the deceased needs to be checked to see whether he had a valid ticket; this was because of the question of insurance, which differs in respect of whether the deceased had permission to be on railway property or was trespassing. Is any of this true, or was I misinformed?

You were misinformed. Possession of a ticket is not conclusive as to whether a person is a trespasser or not - and we certainly don’t go rooting through the deceased’s pockets looking for one!

 

[Falcon1200]

I was told years back by a couple of railway workers that the deceased needs to be checked to see whether he had a valid ticket; this was because of the question of insurance, which differs in respect of whether the deceased had permission to be on railway property or was trespassing.

Can't say I've ever heard of that, and anyway having a ticket does not authorise a person to go onto the track. The most important thing to be established is whether the incident is deemed suspicious, usually when another person was seen, to which end the BT Police can contact the Train Driver directly to get details of how the tragedy occurred.

 

[800001]

Can't say I've ever heard of that, and anyway having a ticket does not authorise a person to go onto the track. The most important thing to be established is whether the incident is deemed suspicious, usually when another person was seen, to which end the BT Police can contact the Train Driver directly to get details of how the tragedy occurred.

Train Drivers, when ever they unfortunately are involved in an incident where they hit, or believe they have hit someone, are asked to contact the BTP Fatality hotline as soon as possible, this gives an immediate sense of what has happened, and assists the BTP with the classification of the incident.

Based up on the drivers initial accounts can determine how long potentially the line may be closed while BTP investigate.

 

[chuff chuff]

Train Drivers, when ever they unfortunately are involved in an incident where they hit, or believe they have hit someone, are asked to contact the BTP Fatality hotline as soon as possible, this gives an immediate sense of what has happened, and assists the BTP with the classification of the incident.

Based up on the drivers initial accounts can determine how long potentially the line may be closed while BTP investigate.

Yeah my control were very insistent and I mean very insistent that I phoned the btp fatality hotline there and then.

 

[Falcon1200]

Train Drivers, when ever they unfortunately are involved in an incident where they hit, or believe they have hit someone, are asked to contact the BTP Fatality hotline as soon as possible, this gives an immediate sense of what has happened, and assists the BTP with the classification of the incident.

Indeed, although during my time in Control some TOCs were reluctant to ask Drivers to do this, perhaps as the procedure was then fairly new; I would hope that since then all are aware of the benefits of this procedure, albeit it does place an additional duty on Drivers during an already very stressful situation.

 

[800001]

Yeah my control were very insistent and I mean very insistent that I phoned the btp fatality hotline there and then.

It is normally Network Rail pressuring the TOC to ensure the driver contacts them.

It’s a very difficult question to ask a driver when you speaking to them after they have just potentially struck someone.

 

[davews]

Does the question of the right to be on railway premises enter into investigations into deaths on the railway (some are accidents rather than suicides)? I was told years back by a couple of railway workers that the deceased needs to be checked to see whether he had a valid ticket; this was because of the question of insurance, which differs in respect of whether the deceased had permission to be on railway property or was trespassing. Is any of this true, or was I misinformed?

Difficult on open stations like Martins Heron which is widely used as a short cut by the locals (including me), and with one ticket machine on the platform you have to be already on the platforms before buying a ticket or accessing the ticket office from the Reading side.