Teen's Windsor train track death raises 'crucial safety message' of electric rails, inquest hears

An inquest into the death of a teenager who died on train tracks near a Windsor station has heard more can be done on the ‘crucial safety message’ of the dangers of railways.

Oliver ‘Ollie’ Holyoake, an aspiring armed forces serviceman from Wraysbury, died after touching a 750-volt electrified rail near Windsor and Eton Riverside Railway Station in 2024.

Coroner Hannah Godfrey told Reading Coroner’s Court today (June 11) that Oliver’s ‘lack of knowledge’ about the dangers of electrified rails had made a ‘more than minimal contribution to his death’.

Recording the cause of death as electrocution by accident, she said: “Had he been aware of that risk, it would have materially affected his decision to trespass onto the line.”

Ms Godfrey said Oliver’s family had been ‘absolutely devastated’ by the ‘unexpected and senseless loss’.

The inquest heard that Oliver was one of two young men who had lost their lives on the train track by Windsor and Eton Riverside station over three months in 2024.

An inquest into 18-year-old Theodore Read’s death is set to take place later this year.

‘A tragic accidental death’

The inquest took place at Reading Coroner's Court in Reading Town Hall. 

Oliver had been on a night out in Windsor with his brother Alex and visited Labyrinth nightclub in Goswell Hill on Saturday evening, May 11.

In the early hours of the morning the following day, Oliver was asked to leave the nightclub by a member of staff who said he had had too much to drink.

Ms Godfrey said: “He was not behaving badly, in fact they [nightclub staff] recall him as a polite, well-mannered young man who left when he was asked.”

Oliver was last seen on CCTV near Windsor and Eton Riverside Station at 2.48am.

British Transport Police officer Tony Gittens told the inquest Oliver could have been looking to walk home by following the tracks - though this was a ‘hypothesis’.

Records from Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust disclosed at the inquest said he had no history of mental health problems. His only recent contact with a GP was regarding an application to join the armed forces.

Oliver’s body was spotted lying on the tracks by train driver Viklal Jaentilal, who was on the morning train departing Windsor and Eton Riverside Station.

He was pronounced dead by paramedics at 7.46am. 

Ms Godfrey said it was likely ‘electrocution had killed him instantly’.   

“I find this was a tragic accidental death of a young man,” she said, adding: “He was not aware of the risk of electrocution by the third rail and that lack of knowledge contributed more than minimally to his death.”

‘Delivering a crucial safety message’

The train line out of Windsor and Eton Riverside Station operates by a ground-based electrified system known as third rail. It is live 24 hours a day and carries a powerful electrical current.

The court heard from Network Rail representative Alex Moles that around 90 per cent of the Wessex Route, which includes the line out of Windsor, is powered by the third rail system.

Mr Moles said Network Rail had put in place measures to raise the height of a fence near Windsor and Eton Riverside Station.

However, he said education around the dangers of railways was ongoing and that there were ‘challenges’ to reaching schools – including in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Nationally, 53 deaths by electrocution on railways were recorded in the last ten years, according to data from the Railways Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) read out at the inquest.

A National Rail survey found more than 50 per cent of people were unaware of the third rail threat, the inquest also heard. 

Mr Moles said Network Rail runs social media campaigns and offers education sessions to schools about the dangers of the railway - and the third rail system - but these have suffered from a low uptake. 

Mr Moles added: “Only five [in RBWM] got back out of 41 that were written to – so there’s a challenge in us getting into schools to deliver this crucial safety message.” 

Ms Godfrey said she was considering writing a prevention of future of deaths report over improvements, including better warning signs near railway tracks, and better education.  

Ms Godfrey said: “I would like say again for, the purpose of the [court] recording, how very sorry I am for this family’s loss.

“The shock of this event and the effect it will have had on Oliver’s immediate family, and his wider family and friends, is absolutely unimaginable.”