Automated train operators did not see 72-year-old on tracks at Stratford, east London

Brian Mitchell stood up and stumbled forwards, falling onto the tracks at platform 13 at Stratford, east London. Mitchell, 72, was crushed by four trains in 2023 after operators failed to spot him in time to stop. Photo / Rail Accident Investigation Branch

Tube drivers have been told to pay “close attention” to the tracks after a pensioner was killed at Stratford station.

Brian Mitchell, 72, was crushed by four trains after operators failed to spot him in time to stop, with one driver misidentifying him as an inflatable doll.

Three of the Jubilee Line trains that hit the pensioner subsequently reversed over his body, meaning he was hit a total of seven times.

Graeme Irvine, the East London Coroner, warned Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, that automated train operators were not paying enough attention to the tracks.

The Coroner said that an “attentive” train operator would have spotted Mitchell, and that his death could have been avoided.

A previous inquest had found that, after Mitchell fell on the tracks, he was left stranded for five and a half minutes before an approaching train ran him over.

After the first automatic train struck him, he went unnoticed. Because Stratford is a terminus station, the train crushed him a second time as it reversed out of the platform.

Three more trains entered the station, driving over Mitchell, despite a member of staff trying to stop the fourth train as it entered the platform.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said the operator of one of the trains had misidentified the body as an inflatable doll on the tracks and had continued driving as normal.

Mitchell was declared dead by paramedics at Stratford, having sustained traumatic injuries.

In a report on the prevention of future deaths, Irvine said: “Jubilee Line trains use automatic train operation. This means that train operators do not drive the train. Acceleration and braking are automated.

“The expectation of train operators is that they pay close attention to the train and the tracks before them and override the system and apply brakes if they observe an object on the tracks.

“In this case, at least three separate train operators failed to notice a man before them on the tracks or to override the automatic system.”

A previous inquest heard Mitchell had got off a Jubilee train at Stratford underground station and sat down on a bench on platform 13 on Boxing Day in 2023.

An hour later, he was seen on CCTV standing up and “lurching” towards the edge of the platform, where he fell onto the tracks. The inquest into Mitchell’s death noted that he was intoxicated with alcohol when the incident took place.

Irvine said: “The court heard that the initial collision with Brian was likely to have been avoidable. The track layout would have allowed Brian’s presence to have been noticed by an attentive TO [train operator].

“Additionally, it was asserted that a TO would have had sufficient time to react and bring the train to a stop many metres before Brian’s location. The court heard that these omissions may have resulted from the fact that platform 13 is a terminus platform, which could result in a lowered level of attention on the part of TOs.”

Irvine said he believed there was a risk of future deaths if action was not taken to make the automatic train operation safer.

He said there needed to be measures to detect and alert staff to the presence of people on the tracks, as well as training for drivers to teach them how to concentrate on the tracks while they operate automatic trains.

The report was issued to the mayor, Transport for London and the Department for Transport.

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