A train driver killed in the Bedfordshire rail crash died from traumatic injuries to his brain stem and chest, an inquest has heard. Shaun Burton, 60, was at the controls of an East Midlands Railway service that ploughed into the back of another train near Elstow, Bedford, on 19 June, leaving 162 people injured.
The inquest, opened at Bedfordshire and Luton Coroner’s Court in Ampthill, heard that a consultant pathologist identified the cause of death as “traumatic injuries to the brainstem and chest, pending further investigations”. Burton was pronounced dead at the scene at 18:49 BST on 19 June and formally identified by the Fingerprint Identification Bureau on 25 June.
“Shaun Burton died from traumatic brain and chest injuries in a Bedfordshire train crash that injured 162 people.”
The short hearing, which lasted about five minutes, was adjourned by senior coroner Emma Whitting pending reports from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and British Transport Police. The coroner’s officer, Natalie Shirran, said: “On June 19, 2026, at approximately 17.14 hours, a collision occurred south of Bedford rail station between train 1H46 and the rear of stationary train 1B67. Train 1B67 had stopped due to a fault and the driver was contacting the signaller and maintenance staff. The signalling system had placed following trains at red signals. Train 1H46 departed Bedford at 17.10 hours and subsequently passed a red signal.”
An interim RAIB report said Burton’s train, heading from Corby, Northamptonshire, to London St Pancras, passed a red signal moments before the collision. The stationary train had originated in Nottingham and had stopped “unexpectedly” because of a fault with its Automatic Warning System equipment. Data showed Burton’s brakes were applied for about nine seconds before impact, with the train slowing from about 77mph to 49mph when it hit. The train was fitted with AWS that sounds a horn when approaching a non-green signal; drivers must acknowledge it by pressing a button or the emergency brake applies.
A total of 102 of the 162 injured required hospital treatment. About three weeks after the crash, 53 remained in hospital, including eight in a critical condition. Burton, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, had previously served as a parish and district councillor, representing The Stukeleys ward on Huntingdonshire District Council. The inquest was adjourned to a date not yet fixed, pending further investigations by the RAIB and police.