Union leader seeks clarity on fatal train crash

STONEHAVEN: Questions raised about circumstances around tragic accident and Network Rail’s role to ensure safety on line

A union leader has raised concerns over the circumstances leading up to the fatal train derailment near Stonehaven.

The general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) said he had written to the Rail Accident and Investigation Branch (RAIB) seeking clarification, particularly on Network Rail procedures.

The August 12 accident saw a Scotrail train hit a landslip near Carmont, west of Stonehaven, following severe rain.

Driver Brett Mccullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, were killed and six people were injured.

In his letter, the TSSA’S Manuel Cortes says he does not wish to speculate about the events, but outlines a number of questions relating to what happened.

He asks: “On the day of the accident at Carmont, weather conditions across much of the east coast of Scotland were atrocious, with flooding in places like Stonehaven.

“Aberdeen services were mostly cancelled but one question has to be why all trains were not stopped? Why were certain services allowed to continue and not others?”

Mr Cortes asks “whether Network Rail and its contractors have carried out – or plan to carry out – any remedial work around the site of the accident given the issue with landslips?”

He adds: “More broadly, will the accident report make recommendations about whether Network Rail has sufficient funds and staff to be able to carry out such work, given it manages 190,000 earthworks assets?”

The union boss wants to know when obstructions on the line were reported, what emergency speed restrictions were in place, and whether the driver had a chance to apply the emergency brake.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “We are doing everything we can to support the ongoing RAIB investigation so that we can properly establish the circumstances that led to the derailment and understand what can be done to prevent such a tragedy happening again.”

The high-speed 6.38am service from Aberdeen to Glasgow was initially stopped at Carmont at 6.59am, after a northbound train reported a landslip further south, on the section of track between Carmont and Laurencekirk.

After sitting at Carmont for more than two hours, the driver was given permission to move north at 9.25am – the derailment was 13 minutes later.

Picture: PA. The accident scene at Carmont, near Stonehaven.