An inquest has opened into the death of a train driver who died from traumatic brain and chest injuries in a Bedfordshire train crash.
Shaun Burton, 60, died when his train collided with the back of another service at Elstow, near Bedford, on 19 June.
The collision left 162 people injured, including 102 individuals who required hospital treatment.
Senior Coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, Emma Whitting, opened the inquest in Ampthill and adjourned the proceedings until a later date, as reported by the BBC.
The coroner told the five-minute hearing that the adjournment allows for the completion of reports from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and British Transport Police.
During the hearing, the coroner’s officer read a statement from a consultant pathologist identifying the cause of death as traumatic injuries to the brain stem and chest.
The coroner’s report stated that authorities pronounced Mr Burton dead at the scene at 18:49 BST on 19 June.
The Fingerprint Identification Bureau formally identified him on 25 June.
Read: More than 100 treated after Bedford train crash as eight remain critical
Red signal
Mr Burton lived in Cambridgeshire and previously served as a parish and district councillor, representing The Stukeleys ward on Huntingdonshire District Council.
An interim report by the RAIB stated that Mr Burton’s East Midlands Railway train proceeded past a red signal moments before the collision.
Read: Faulty safety system triggered fatal Bedford rail crash
His service left Corby, Northamptonshire, at 16:40 BST and was heading towards London St Pancras.
The other train was travelling ahead in the same direction, having originated in Nottingham at 15:50 BST.
Investigators found that the Nottingham service had come to a stop “unexpectedly” due to a fault in its Automatic Warning System (AWS) equipment.
Data reviewed by investigators showed the brakes on Mr Burton’s train were applied for about 9 seconds before the collision.
The train was travelling at about 76mph when the brakes were applied, reducing its speed to 49mph at the time of impact.
