Tributes have been paid to a former teacher and railway campaigner who died after being hit by a car in South Yorkshire.

Robin Sisson, 51, of Saltaire, used to teach at Bradford Grammar School before pursuing a career in his greatest passion, the railway industry.

Mr Sisson was instrumental in the re-opening of Frizinghall railway station and has campaigned for rail users’ interests both in Yorkshire and the North West.

At the time of his death he was working as assistant editor for Today’s Rail UK magazine, based in Sheffield, where he commuted to from his home in Helen Street.

Tim Calor, chairman of the Aire Valley Rail Users’ Group, said: “He was a lovely person – a gentleman who was concerned for people using the train and did a great deal of work, both voluntarily and professionally, representing them.

“He was involved in representing rail passenger interests for a number of years.

“He had always lived locally and so I regularly met him at meetings about railway users and being in the Aire Valley he was someone we kept in touch with.”

The incident which led to Mr Sisson’s death occurred in Sheffield at about 7pm last Tuesday.

He had worked in the city at Today’s Rail UK magazine for two years. Editor-in-chief Peter Fox said: “We are all devastated by what has happened. We are just stunned.

“Our sympathies go to his elderly mother in Lincoln.

“The magazine will be doing an obituary for him – he will be sorely missed.

“I knew him before he worked for me, he was working for the North West Rail Passenger Council. He was very committed to his job.”

Mr Sisson’s neighbour and friend James Margerrison, of Ada Street, Saltaire, said he was a well-known face in pubs around the village.

He said: “He would sometimes give impromptu Handel performances in the pubs.

“He would suddenly break into song sometimes which some people would find quite startling.

“He was a pleasant and cheerful man – he would talk a lot about the railway stuff.

“His encyclopedic knowledge of Britain’s railways was often in demand, and his command of the Kafkaesque-procedures of railway hearings stood him in good stead.”

It has been reported that a 20-year-old man driving the Toyota involved in the collision was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and later bailed until early August.

Anyone with any information has been asked to contact South Yorkshire Police on 0114 220 2970.