Updated: A MAN was killed when he was hit by a high-speed train on the outskirts of York.

The man was struck by a National Express train at about 7.40am yesterday, at Moor Lane Bridge, Dringhouses.

British Transport Police (BTP), an ambulance and rapid response vehicle were called, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers from BTP are trying to establish the man’s identity.

A BTP spokeswoman said: “We received a report from Network Rail that a National Express service from Newcastle to London’s King Cross had struck a person at the Moor Lane Bridge. BTP officers went to the scene and discovered a body of a male adult at the side of the tracks.

“He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from the Yorkshire ambulance service. BTP are also being assisted by North Yorkshire Police.”

He said the circumstances surrounding the death were being investigated but were not considered suspicious. When asked by The Press, people living in Old Moor Lane had not realised anything had happened.

But an employee of BAM Nuttall, the company working on Moor Lane Bridge, said there were lots of officers in the area.

He said: “There were police crawling all over the lines.”

The line was cleared after about 70 minutes, but services were still disrupted. York coroner Donald Coverdale has been notified.

A National Express spokesman said the driver of the 6.30am East Coast service was relieved of duty at the first opportunity. “As with any case of this matter, the train driver is taken off duty at the next stop which was Doncaster,” he said. “We then have systems in place to deal with a situation like this which is hard for the drivers. Thankfully something like this does not happen very often, we just do our best to offer help and support to all those concerned.”

A Network Rail spokeswoman said the incident caused delays for passengers travelling from York yesterday morning. It did affect other trains, she said. “As with any fatality all trains have to be stopped as it is a potential crime scene. From 8.07am until 9.17am all services were stopped until police cleared the scene.”