Security guards praised for saving passenger who fell under a train

Josh Chegwin, 33, and Neil Lewis, 44, travel safe officers who are employed by Amulet Security to patrol Northern services and stations, were getting off a train at Lea Green station when they heard a loud bang.

“A man had fallen down onto the tracks, so I shouted to the guard and managed to get the train halted,” said Josh.

“My colleague Neil bent down to grab him, while I held onto him, and he managed to get the guy by his jacket and lift him up off the tracks.

“He had banged his head and was under the train, crawling around. Neil was giving him directions to make sure he didn’t go the wrong way, as there was a train about to come past on the other side of the tracks.  

“We took him up to the ticket office and administered first aid. He said he didn’t want an ambulance, so we gave him some water and sat with him for a while to make sure he was all right.

“We were all quite shook up, but I’m just glad we were there to help.”

Following the incident in December last year, the two security guards were nominated for a Lifesaver Award at the 2026 RailStaff Awards, but narrowly missed out on making it onto the final shortlist.  

Paul Bennett, Northern’s Safety and Environment Director, said: “We’re incredibly proud of Josh and Neil, as they reacted quickly and remained calm under pressure to get an injured passenger to safety.

“Travel safe officers patrol services and stations across our vast network throughout the year and do a brilliant job of keeping passengers safe.

“The safety of customers is our top priority and we work hard to ensure they can travel with confidence.”

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,650 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.