A railway worker has had a lucky escape after only narrowly avoiding being struck by a 60mph train at Ynys Hir, near Dovey Junction station.

The incident caused no injuries but left workers and the train driver “badly shaken”, a Rail Accident Investigation Branch report said.

The workman was one of a group of two Network Rail workers and six contractors that had just completed fishplate oiling work on the Cambrian Line that runs towards Aberystwyth.

The driver of the 10.29am passenger service from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth noticed members of the work group walking along the line to the safety access point and sounded the train’s horn.

While the first two members were “already in a position of safety”, the report said, the driver observed another track worker walking between the rails with his back to the train.

“The track worker did not hear the horn until the driver had also applied the emergency brake and the train was virtually upon him,” the report said.

“He then immediately moved clear.”

The RAIB said the near-miss occurred because the work group became separated on their way back to the railway access point after completing the job.

A lookout had been assigned to provide the group with a warning of approaching trains, but this was not effective, the report found, because the group had separated.

The RAIB said the lookout “may not have been regularly looking back” because he was not expecting a train for another 45 minutes.

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