Drivers told to run trains past body

Up to 20 drivers were ordered to take their trains past the body of a young woman who was lying between the tracks, it has been revealed. Union officials claimed that drivers were "traumatised" by the incident on Great Eastern's Shenfield to Southend line in Essex on 6 February.

It was nearly four hours before the body was removed. The Aslef general secretary, Lew Adams, claimed that trains were not stopped because this would have meant Great Eastern facing penalty payments. But a Great Eastern spokeswoman said the company kept running the trains to avoid rush-hour delays.

Randeep Ramesh