Shocked commuters saw a man survive being hit by a train on Valentine’s Day.

The man was hit by a train at Surbiton station after falling into the tracks just after 6pm.

Both paramedics, Metropolitan Police officers and British Transport Police (BTP) were called to the rush-hour scene.

A BTP spokesman said the man suffered a bump to his head and was taken to hospital.

A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said: "Our staff treated a 42-year-old man and took him to as a priority to Kingston Hospital with head injuries."

The man was hit by a train travelling the 4.24pm service from Portsmouth and Southsea to London Waterloo.

Twitter was almost immediately filled with tweets from those who suffered subsequent delays to their journeys home, and speculation about what had happened.

BTP said the incident was not being treated as suspicious, but it was not believed the man fell accidentally.

A spokesman for South West Trains said the line was closed for 10 or 15 minutes and delays to the service were minimal.

Surbiton station has several deaths, suicides and failed suicide attempts in recent years.

In June 2008 a man fell on to the tracks and was rushed to hospital, and in October 2008 Surbiton resident Peter Roberts, 38, was killed when he was hit by a train travelling through Surbiton at 80mph.

Staff also saw a woman killed on the tracks when she climbed down from the platform and started to cross the track.

They saw what was happening and tried to stop her, but it happened too quickly.

All the staff at Surbiton station have been trained to prevent potential suicides and there is a Samaritans poster at the station which reads: "Samaritans helped me find my strength”.