When somebody dies by suicide on the railway, there’s a process professionals follow to deal with the aftermath and get trains moving again – here’s what happens…
1. The train involved in the collision will be brought to an immediate stop
2. The British Transport Police will be called to the scene – they will talk to witnesses, view CCTV and determine whether further investigation into the death is required
3. The driver of the train involved will be relieved of their duties and start trauma counselling
4. Undertakers will attend the railway and remove the deceased to a mortuary where their next-of-kin will mostly likely be required to identify their body
5. A specialist cleaning team may be deployed to the site prior to reopening the line
6. Network Rail’s operations team will then decide if the line can be reopened safely
In 2018/19, there were 279 suicides or suspected suicides on the railway. This accounts for around 4.4 percent of suicides that take place in Great Britain.
Network Rail have trained over 19,000 railway employees to intervene in suicide attempts, resulting in the intervention of more than 2,200 suicide attempts on the railway in 2018/19.
You can find out more about suicide prevention on the railway on the Network Rail website.
