Railway worker and enthusiast, 23, died after parking car on level crossing

Matthew Ryder, 23, who had no history of previous mental health problems, deliberately drove his car under barriers at a crossing and waited beside it on March 28, an inquest heard

A railway enthusiast whose life revolved around trains was tragically struck by one at a level crossing.

Matthew Ryder, 23, took his own life after he deliberately drove his car under barriers at a crossing and waited beside it on March 28, an inquest heard.

The driver of the train, who was qualified but was being taught to operate high-speed trains, had ‘insufficient time’ to stop the train which had left Exeter St David’s at 6am and was travelling to Bristol Parkway.

The train struck the vehicle and Matthew five minutes later, but did not derail and no passengers were injured, reports DevonLive .

The inquest heard Matthew wrote suicide notes to his parents and sister, which he left at his parents’ home where he lived, and also put one under the door of British Transport Police at Exeter St David’s.

In the letter to his parents he revealed he had been experiencing suicidal thoughts for years and that he intended to take his own life and apologised.

A statement from his father Alan, which was read out during the inquest today at Exeter’s County Hall, told how from a young age Matthew loved Thomas the Tank Engine which soon developed into a passion for railways.

It was also fuelled by his father who worked on trains.

Born in Exeter, Matthew went to Whipton Barton Junior School and St Luke’s Sports and Science College, and then studied travel and tourism at Exeter College.

Mr Ryder told how there had been ‘no complications or concerns’ during his education and his ambition was to work on the railway which he achieved.

He became an apprentice with Great Western Railway and then a part-time ticket examiner at Exeter St David’s. He had applied for other jobs but was unsuccessful.

Plane watcher

In his spare time he enjoyed going on rail tours with other railway enthusiasts, and also enjoyed watching planes at Exeter Airport.

Mr Ryder said: “He was a nice, good honest human being.”

He added: “We never knew of any mental health problems. It came as shock to us from the letters he left to us.”

Mr Ryder also conveyed his disbelief that his son was arrested a couple of days before his death.

He said: “It was complete shock to us. Matthew said it was to do with railways.”

The night before his death, Mr Ryder recalled it had been a ‘normal evening’ together and then when he woke up at 4.45am the next morning to give Matthew a lift to work he realised he had gone.

He drove along the route he would have taken to find him, and it was only when he returned back to house having not seen him that he discovered the suicide notes and rang the emergency services.

Mr Ryder said: “The letters said he thought taking his life was the correct thing to do, and therefore we feel he took his own life voluntarily.

“Other than that in the letters, there were no reasons why he took his life and they were the first indication we had.

“There was nothing in the family history that could have been contributory factor to this.”

Further evidence was heard from Phillip Mann, a signal operator based at Exeter St David’s who lowered the barriers at the level crossing before Matthew’s death.

His statement explained how it is controlled by CCTV and manually pressing a crossing clear button. He stated that once it is pressed the CCTV monitor turns off.

The moment he became aware of a problem was around three minutes later when he saw a yellow light flashing on the control panel.

Mr Mann said: “Alarm bells started to ring in my head something was wrong.”

After seeing a car was sat on the crossing and the train was approaching he told how he followed the correct procedures which included using the emergency phone to alert the train driver, Jason Smith.

In a statement Mr Smith told how all lights had been green when he approached a long left curve and then saw a man and car on the crossing.

Despite applying the emergency brakes the train was unable to stop in time.

Actions were deliberate

Mr Smith said: “I saw no effort made by the male to move out of our path. I am certain his actions were deliberate.”

The incident was investigated by Richard Harrington, inspector of rail accidents for the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

He told the inquest the reason the CCTV switches off after barriers are lowered at a crossing is to avoid possible distraction from the operator’s workload, and other protection measures at crossings exist such as alarms.

After looking at CCTV evidence he confirmed the car could be seen nearly four minutes before impact - stopping at the crossing and then driving under the barrier and lifting it up as it goes under and then coming back down. The driver then gets out of the car and stands on the track beside the vehicle.

Mr Harrington said it caused a warning light to flash in the signal box in Exeter, one minute 39 seconds before the incident, but it was not noticed by the signaller who was on the telephone about three meters from the warning light dealing with an obstruction in Newton St Cyres.

It is only around 30 seconds before impact the signaller observes the warning, and the emergency brake was applied three seconds before the collision

Mr Harrington concluded there was insufficient time to slow or stop the train, and as part of his remit he had recommended to Network Rail to consider having an audible alarm.

He said: “Potentially it could make a difference as part of an ongoing programme of level crossing improvements.”

He added the crossing at Stoke Canon was ‘fairly low risk’ compared to others.

Detective inspector Paul Stanley with the British Transport Police (BTP) told the inquest how Matthew has been arrested for ‘railway related offenses’ overnight on March 26 and 27, and was then bailed. He had not been charged and the investigation was ongoing.

When asked by the coroner if there was any indication about the state of his mind he said: “As he was taken into the custody suite he underwent a custody risk assessment. There was no suggestion that there was any risk.”

The cause of Matthew’s death was confirmed as severe traumatic destruction of the body due to a railway incident.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, coroner Philip Spinney said: “I will also write to Network Rail making some recommendations calling for a review of audible alarms.”

At the time of Matthew’s death, Devon Live reported how the BTP were investigating a series of incidents on the line.

Police stated three further incidents, aside from death, were brought to the attention of officers, including a train striking objects at Newton St Cyres and at Crannaford, as well as a line-side fire involving equipment at Eggesford.

All four incidents were being treated as linked.