Stonehaven train crash driver ‘failed two drug tests’

A train driver suspended after testing positive for drugs was re-employed by ScotRail despite having failed a previous drug test with the company.

Although officials have found nothing to implicate the man in the crash at Stonehaven Station earlier this month, he took a routine drug and alcohol test following the incident.

It was reported he resigned from the company in 2010 after failing a routine test.

It is believed he was caught during a health screening as part of his application to become a train conductor. He was working for ScotRail as a train ticket examiner at the time.

He is said to have then become a driver at First Great Western in England before returning to ScotRail.

The Courier asked ScotRail and Aslef, the train drivers’ union, about the previous drug test on Friday, with a union spokesman accusing our sources of “making up lies” by suggesting there had been a previously failed test.

They have not yet responded to a new request for comment.

A ScotRail spokesman said: “There is nothing to suggest the derailment was caused by the actions of the driver or a fault with the train.”

The man, whose father is also employed by ScotRail as a mid-level manager, is believed to have challenged the latest test result.