A coroner has ruled out suicide in the death of a man who was run over by a passenger train at Corrimal in January 2011.
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The family of Craig Phillip Ainsworth on Tuesday said they were relieved the two-day inquest into the 38-year-old's death was over.
They said they were happy with the findings of Deputy State Coroner Geraldine Beattie, who ruled Mr Ainsworth's death was a result of "misadventure", rather than suicide.
His fiancee and the mother of his two children, Sam Eldridge, told the Mercury she believed the inquest had delivered "justice" for her partner.
"[Today] has brought closure for all of us," she said, speaking on behalf of family members who attended Wollongong Courthouse to hear the proceedings.
"We really needed it; there were just too many unanswered questions [surrounding his death]."
Mr Ainsworth was killed instantly when he was hit by a northbound train in the early hours of Sunday, January 16, 2011.
The inquest heard Mr Ainsworth, a chronic alcoholic, had been drinking for almost 12 hours at his Corrimal home and was already "very intoxicated" when he entered the Palm Court Hotel shortly after 9.30pm on January 15.
He drank at the pub for another 5½ hours before leaving at 3.10am the next morning. He was hit by the train at 3.37am as it passed through the level crossing intersection on Railway Street.
Evidence suggested Mr Ainsworth was "low to the ground", possibly lying between the railway tracks, when he was struck and killed.
The train's drivers, not realising the accident had occurred, did not stop and continued on to their Sydney destination.
Mr Ainsworth's body was discovered half an hour later after drivers of a subsequent freight train noticed it on the tracks.
Assessing the evidence before her, Ms Beattie dismissed accounts from the hotel's licensee, Mark O'Rourke, that Mr Ainsworth didn't appear intoxicated when he was being served alcohol at the pub in the hours before his death.
She cited statements from Ms Eldridge who said before her partner left for the hotel that evening he was "so intoxicated he was struggling to negotiate stepping over the bath into the shower".
She also noted his blood alcohol content of 0.310 at the time of his death was "undisputedly an exceptionally high reading".
Ms Beattie noted that Mr Ainsworth had a history of mental illness and had talked about committing suicide in the past, even mentioning trains as "an option or idea he had" about "how he would go".
However, she also cited evidence countering any suicidal intent, saying family and friends described Mr Ainsworth as being excited about a new job promotion and the impending birth of his second child.
"I cannot rule out the possibility that his death was ... instead, due to misadventure," she said.