Shapps orders rapid review of flash flood resilience from NR
UK Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps visited the accident on August 13, and called on Network Rail to quickly check the railway’s resilience to flash floods and give him an interim report by September 1.
Shapps retains responsibility for rail safety in Scotland, with only the operation of track and train devolved to Transport Scotland.
Speaking after seeing the accident site from a helicopter, a scene he described as “completely harrowing”, Shapps said: “I’ve said to Network Rail first of all in the next few days, few hours, we want to have some reassurance resilience check on the railway, particularly with these flash floods.
“The second thing is that I want a report by September 1 on my desk, which will be an interim report about the wider issues that may have impacted this, with a final report in the autumn. I’ve been with Network Rail today discussing those plans.”
At the same time, NR Chief Executive Andrew Haines said: “I will not pre-empt the outcome of the investigation into this awful event, but it is clear the weather was appalling and there were floods and landslips in the area. I have asked my teams to put extra measures in place - from immediate, heightened inspections to medium-term work with meteorologists - to improve information and forecasting.”
Weather radar images obtained by RAIL for the morning of August 12 show rainfall topping 32mm per hour passing through the area south of Aberdeen (the white dot in the red area).
NR is now inspecting “dozens of sites nationwide with higherrisk trackside slopes, similar to Stonehaven”, with a team of in-house engineers and contractors. It has mobilised its extreme weather action teams to monitor the network and is working with meteorologists to see how it can strengthen real-time information for flash flooding. In addition, NR is reviewing its monitoring programme for highrisk sites “to test whether this can go faster or further”.
Haines added: “Our climate is changing, and it is increasingly challenging the performance and reliability of the railway.
But incidents like yesterday’s devastating accident are incredibly rare, and our railway remains the safest major railway in Europe.
“Our network was designed for a temperate climate, and it’s challenged when we get extremes such as storms and floods. We’re seeing this more and more, and although we can address them on the ground with precautionary measures, we are acutely aware we need a long-term resolution. We had already secured additional funding and resources to help achieve this.
“Yesterday was a tragedy, a truly horrific event, and my thoughts remain with everyone affected. Understanding what happened is the key to making sure it never
occurs again.”
The problem of bad weather applies all over Britain. In a message to NR staff on August 14, Haines said: “It’s not just Scotland impacted by extreme wet weather. This week we have seen, and will continue to see, heavy rain fall. This has caused washouts and landslips across the length and breadth of Great Britain.
“Yesterday there were two washouts on the South East route. But thanks to significant efforts from colleagues overnight, a full service has safely resumed this morning. In Wales, the central line has suffered similarly from the poor weather and disrupted services, and the line remains closed.”
RAIL’s news pages have recorded several landslips over recent months. Storm Jorge on February 29-March 1 washed out lines at Dutton Viaduct, Mountain Ash and around Aberdare.
Storm Ciara on February 9 closed the Kilmarnock-Dumfries line and the Conwy Valley line for similar reasons (this line was also closed by flooding and washouts in 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017 and 2019, see pages 58-61). Both storms combined to damage the Cumbrian Coast Line.
Also in February, there were slips between Redhill and Tonbridge, between Hurst Green and Ashurst, and between Southampton and Salisbury.