{"id":690940,"date":"2026-07-14T10:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/690940\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T10:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T10:28:11","slug":"bedford-train-crash-drivers-cause-of-death-revealed-after-horror-collision-that-injured-160-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/690940\/","title":{"rendered":"Bedford train crash driver’s cause of death revealed after horror collision that injured 160 people"},"content":{"rendered":"

The train driver killed in last month’s Bedford rail crash died from “traumatic injuries to the brainstem and chest, pending further investigation”, a pathologist has revealed.<\/p>\n

The HM Coroner’s Office Report revealed the 60-year-old Shaun Burton’s cause of death this morning.<\/p>\n

The horrific collision injured 160 people on June 19.<\/p>\n

The driver was the sole casualty, sparking tributes from authorities and residents.<\/p>\n

The collision involved two East Midlands Railway trains, with one striking the rear of the other on the same line near Elstow, Bedford.<\/p>\n

Mr Burton died when the train he was driving hit the back of a stationary train.<\/p>\n

The train was travelling at 76mph when its brakes were applied nine seconds before impact, preliminary analysis of a data recorder has shown.<\/p>\n

At the point of contact with the other train, its speed had reduced to 49mph.<\/p>\n

\"Shaun<\/p>\n

Shaun Burton was killed in the crash<\/p>\n

| PA <\/p>\n

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) released an interim report stating that Mr Burton’s train passed a red signal near the scene of the crash.<\/p>\n

However, it added that “it is not yet possible to say what indication the driver received” from automatic warning system (AWS) equipment in the train.<\/p>\n

CCTV footage from a forward-facing camera on Mr Burton’s train shows a signal near the crash site displaying red as the train approached and passed it, the RAIB said.<\/p>\n

AWS systems trigger a bell or chime when a train approaches a green signal.<\/p>\n

\"Bedford<\/p>\n

The collision involved two East Midlands Railway trains<\/p>\n

| MATTWILLISRAIL\/X<\/p>\n

A horn sounds when a red signal is approached, and drivers must acknowledge the warning by pressing a button.<\/p>\n

A visual indicator then appears in the cab as a reminder.<\/p>\n

If the warning is not acknowledged quickly enough, the train’s emergency brake is automatically applied.<\/p>\n

Investigators said the stationary train involved in the collision had stopped “unexpectedly”.<\/p>\n

\"Bedford<\/p>\n

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) released an interim report<\/p>\n

| GETTY <\/p>\n

In a tribute issued by the British Transport Police (BTP), his family said: “We are devastated by his loss.<\/p>\n

“Our thoughts are also with those affected by this incident.”<\/p>\n

BTP said the family have asked “for their privacy to be respected as they begin to come to terms with this devastating loss”.<\/p>\n

“Our thoughts continue to be with them and his colleagues at East Midlands Railway,” a BTP spokesman said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The train driver killed in last month’s Bedford rail crash died from “traumatic injuries to the brainstem and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-690940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}