A MAN'S body found at the side of the railway lines in Barrow has been removed from the scene as questions are raised about why it took two separate sightings over two days for the body to be discovered.

Police were called to the area of the railway between Park Avenue and Marsh Street yesterday at 11.30am after the body was spotted by a train passenger.

Network Rail officers had conducted a search of the area the day before on Wednesday after another train passenger reported seeing a body. That search was concluded with Network Rail reporting they had only found a pile of rubbish.

The second train passenger, who spotted the body yesterday, told The Mail he reported the sighting to the conductor onboard a train from Ulverston to Barrow.

The passenger claims he was told by the conductor that staff were "aware" of the sighting from the day before but it had been found to be a pile of rubbish.

However, the passenger says he continued to maintain that he was certain that what he had seen was a dead body, and his insistence resulted in a second search.

He told The Mail: "They didn't want to take me seriously and it was only when I kicked off that they did a second search. Why did it take two sightings for them to do a proper search?

"I was absolutely adamant that what I'd seen was a body. I offered to walk down the line with them to show them."

Some 30 minutes after the train arrived at Barrow at around 10.55am, another search was carried out and the body was found.

The Mail has contacted Network Rail, British Transport Police and Cumbria Police to ask why police were not involved in the search after the first sighting of the body on Wednesday.

It is British Transport Police, not Cumbria Police, who have jurisdiction over the railway lines. Cumbria Police do not have authority to gain access to, or search, the lines, unless requested to do so by British Transport Police.

A spokesman for British Transport Police explained that as one of their units wasn't in the nearby area after Wednesday's sighting, a specially trained Network Rail manager who was in the vicinity, was sent to the scene to conduct a search.

The Network Rail manager reported back that the sighting was a pile of rubbish and no further action was taken.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “A passenger reported seeing what appeared to be a body at 1.44pm on Wednesday November 15. The area the passenger described was searched by Network Rail staff, but nothing was found at this time.

“The following day we received another sighting and the British Transport Police and Cumbria Police began their investigation."

The cause of the man's death is currently being treated as unexplained and the body has not yet been formally identified.

The discovery resulted in a number of rail services being cancelled and suspended across Cumbria but trains are now operating as normal and there is no police scene guard at the site.

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said yesterday: "The body of a man has been recovered from the side of the train lines near to Greengate Street bridge in Barrow.

"He has not yet been formally identified.

The cause of death is currently being treated as unexplained."

Anyone with information about the death is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.